How many people do you know have been to Iceland? Probably not more than you can count on one hand. With its beautiful volcanoes, glaciers, and natural springs, many deem Iceland as one of their “bucket list destinations.”

My name is Sammie and I will be traveling with my roommate, Dagny, to her native country of Iceland for my Senior Project. I will be staying with her family in the small town of Hveragerdi, just 15 miles east of Reykjavik, the country’s capital.

Besides seeing the marvelous sights of Iceland and fully immersing myself in Icelandic cultural, I will be studying gender equality. Data collected by the World Economic Forum in 2014 placed Iceland at the TOP of the list in the Global Gender Gap Index. The United States is ranked 28^th on that very same list. Through multiple interviews with women ranked in the Top 100 powerful women in Iceland and other students my age, I will attempt to discover how a country the size of Kentucky and the population of Pittsburgh (roughly 320,000) can attain the equality our country has long strived for.

Feel free to check back to my blog throughout the next two weeks for pictures and updates!

-Sammie