Emma Leonard, daughter of John and Donna Leonard of Boothbay, is currently studying abroad in the Dominican Republic through the CIEE program in Portland.

While living with a host family, she is taking Spanish, history and culture classes, learning to teach English and volunteering with children at an orphanage.

After her car accident in Woolwich on Feb. 11, 2014, when she suffered a traumatic brain injury and a severely dislocated ankle, she spent three weeks in Maine Medical Center.

Emma persevered and graduated from Hyde School in Bath on May 31.

She worked at The Watershed Tavern in Boothbay this past summer and volunteered at the Maine State Aquarium.

She had been accepted and planned on attending Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida, before making the decision to study abroad.

She will be home for a month in December before she completes the program with another three and a half months in Seville, Spain.

Friends can follow her exploits at http://dominicarepublic.blogspot.com.