Senior tennis player Laila Abdala has lived in many diverse cities in her life. She moved from her hometown of Mexico City to San Diego in her teens and then made her way to Tempe.
Abdala has already seen her fair share of traveling, but if she has anything to say about it, her international journey has just begun.
Q: You are a senior this year. What is your major?
A: I’m a political science major. I love foreign affairs and my ultimate goal is to [become] an ambassador. I’d love to represent Mexico in another country.
Q: What languages do you speak?
A: I speak Spanish, English, Arabic and Italian.
Q: So with the ability to speak four languages, where would you most like to go if you became an ambassador?
A: I’d most like to go to Italy or Greece, where they party a lot. I’d have an awesome Cinco de Mayo. Other than those places, I’d just like to go some place cool where they know how to party.
Q: You are graduating this semester, so what do you plan to do when your days at ASU are over?
A: I don’t know. I might go home to Mexico City or work here because I have dual citizenship. I’m also thinking about going to graduate school.
Q: You seem to have a lot of options; are you leaning toward any area at the moment?
A: Right now, I just want enjoy my life and have fun. I’m really interested in going back home to do foreign affairs and maybe work at the Mexican Embassy.
Q: Now that you are about to leave ASU, do you think you have gotten the experience that you expected from the University?
A: Yes, maybe even more. I didn’t expect it to be this fun. I really got to come out of my shell. I lived on my own without my parents and got to see my little sister [junior tennis player Nadia Abdala] grow up. I also learned to cook for myself and do my own laundry.
Reach the reporter at todonnel@asu.edu.
