“Don’t let anything hold you back,” A Peyton Scholar in Spain

Meredith Woolbright enjoys traveling and the Peyton Scholarship made it possible to go further than ever before. Softball has paved the way for the Mississippi University for Women junior to visit numerous cities throughout the United States, but none of those trips impacted Woolbright like the one she took as a Peyton Scholar.

Woolbright, who is a history major at The W, already had earned the Peyton Scholarship, so she opted to apply for the Peyton Scholarship’s study abroad program. The decision to spend a month at the University of Alicante in Spain—one of two schools The W has a partnership with to send exchange students—was an experience that changed Woolbright’s perspective.

“Going to Spain opened my eyes to another world you can go to,” Woolbright said. “This trip has made me see so much more to life.”

Living with a host family in the southeast region of Spain allowed her to see another mind-set. Citizens in Spain don’t allow differences in gender, language, color and other things to bother them like some in the U.S. do. Woolbright said seeing that mentality every day made her wonder why people in the U.S. can’t have the same level of tolerance and acceptance.

The trip wouldn’t have happened if Woolbright didn’t want a change of pace from taking French classes. A discussion with Professor Erinn Holloway led her to apply for the study abroad program, even if she admitted she didn’t remember very much from the three years of Spanish she took in high school.

“I think many students would like to do a study abroad experience, but the cost is prohibitive,” said Erin Kempker, a history professor at The W and chair of the Department of History, Political Science & Geography. “The Peyton funding allows us to eliminate much of the barrier that cost would make. Meredith spent a summer on study abroad in Spain and gained wonderful perspective on and insight to Spanish culture and history in a way that a classroom experience could not and would not have provided.

“Studying the Spanish language in Painter Hall is one thing — going to Spain and walking through museums, talking with people and traveling the country is quite another. I have no doubt Meredith will remember the trip and what she saw and learned in Spain for the rest of her life. That is what a study abroad can give to students, and that is the experience the Peyton scholarship program can provide them.”

Woolbright, who also traveled to London during her stay overseas, said she didn’t expect everyone in Spain to be as accepting. She is going to try to pass on what she experienced in Spain at The W and to all of her friends and family in Columbus. As someone who is considered a “people person,” Woolbright should have an easy time sharing the sentiment she lived in Spain. Woolbright feels a responsibility to tell people about what she saw and to encourage them to live their lives that way.

“They’re so culturally diverse,” Woolbright said. “In America, we are diverse, but we don’t accept each other’s diversity, whereas in Spain, they do. Being a history major, you notice those things when you’re in another country. It was so cool that they celebrate that diversity.”

Allison Woolbright, Meredith’s mother, admits she wasn’t sure about Meredith going to Spain. She said her oldest daughter, Alex, who also went to The W, studied abroad but stayed with other students in an apartment complex. Allison quickly discovered Meredith had a “wonderful experience.”

“Her host mom cooked for her and made her converse in Spanish and she lived in an environment in which she was forced to absorb their true culture,” said Allison Woolbright, who is a history teacher and the volleyball coach at New Hope High School in Columbus. “Had she been living with her W group, I do not know that she would have truly appreciated the rich culture of this part of Spain. I think this experience opened her eyes to so many things that many of our young people will never understand.”

Allison said Meredith adjusted to not having some of the same amenities she was used to in the United States. Meredith called her about three weeks into the trip and said she wanted to do more and see more that this world had to offer. Meredith told her and her husband when they picked her up at the airport that she was going back to Spain in December. It remains to be seen whether Meredith will take that trip, but Allison said her daughter will “definitely go places and do great things as a result of getting to go on this study program.”

“Even if she does not move off and live far away I think this experience opened her eyes to many new opportunities and other cultures,” Allison Woolbright said. “I see in her a greater appreciation for diversity and she embraces that.”

Meredith said she will do her part to help break down what she feels are “barriers” in the U.S. She said people in this country have to be able to accept everybody and not judge them for whatever they want to do. She would like to see that mind-set take hold in her lifetime.

Woolbright said she would like to go to law school. If she doesn’t go to law school, she said she could see herself as a lobbyist or going to work in politics.

Regardless of what professional steps she takes in the future, Woolbright said she plans to go back to Spain. She thanked all of her professors for encouraging her to broaden her horizons and for pushing her to find a different path. Woolbright then smiled and said she would love to return to Alicante as soon as possible, but she has other work to do before she can go back.

“I have a whole bucket list now because I’ve always known there was more to life,” Woolbright said. “One hundred twenty-five thousand percent I am going to go back. I am very thankful for my roots and thankful for where I came from, but there’s more to it.

“If you ever had the slightest thought of studying abroad, do it. Don’t let anything hold you back.”