While at the University of Pittsburgh, Nicola focused on Urban Studies and History, with a concentration in Latin American Studies. She chose to study abroad twice during university, in León, Nicaragua and Granada, Spain, which sowed the seeds of her love of travel and learning Spanish. After finishing college, she joined the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows and began a ten-year career in Philadelphia public schools as a high school English teacher. In 2022, Nicola decided to pursue an opportunity to move to Valencia, Spain, to work as an English Language Assistant. Her time in Valencia was a unique chapter of exploring new interests and embracing unique challenges, which eventually led her to Andalucía, where she enrolled in a master’s program focused on Urban Planning at the University of Sevilla. Nicola now works as an English teacher at a language academy in Sevilla, helping students of a range of ages improve their English and prepare for official language exams. On weekends, she can be found exploring urban parks within Sevilla or conducting research for her thesis, focused on renaturing cities. Nicola is fluent in English and highly proficient in Spanish, and previously taught Spanish at Putney’s Pre-College program in Barcelona. This fall, Nicola is looking forward to defending her master’s thesis and hopes to join urban sustainability initiatives in Spain.