In 3 days (well actually, two to be more accurate), I will be on an airplane. Again. Flying over the Atlantic. Again. You'd think that by now I'd have wisened up and picked one airline to stick to so that I could get super nice membership/frequent traveler benefits.
Anyways.
In 3 days, I will be traveling to Spain. España. Espagne. 스페인. Whatever you want to call it, I'm studying abroad for the semester and I am flying in three days. I'm slightly terrified. Inordinately excited. Thrilled, anxious, a bit sad, nervous, stressed, exhilarated. So many words that thesaurus.com is pretty inadequate for tonight.
I've dreamt of studying abroad since I was a freshman in high school, wanting to get out of my mundane suburban lifestyle and out of the house and away from home and on my own and somewhere exotic and refreshing and breathtakingly new. When I first heard of the United World College, I thought it would be my chance to go abroad. I went to New Mexico. It was still quite a different experience, being across the country and in a whole new environment, but still not abroad. When I was choosing where to attend university, I came within a split decision to studying at a university overseas. I am now in New Jersey. Closer to home than before, although the decision to attend a university with the resources that it has has paid off through the opportunities I have had to travel to new countries for summer internships. However, it's still different from studying abroad. I always hoped in the back of my mind that I could go to a country like Spain to study, although the more my academic track deviated away from languages and international relations and such the smaller my hopes of studying in Spain dwindled. And then Cantabria happened. The engineering department at my school forged an exchange program contract with the Unviversity of Cantabria last April, and even before they had finished signing all the documents, I began planning out how to study there.
Fast forward 9 months or so, and I am three days away from Spain. Visa is in order. Finals have been completed. I have a place to stay. I still have one assignment to turn in, but I'm trying not to let that concern me. Part of me is still aching from the goodbyes I've said over the past few days - particularly to my senior friends whose last semesters I will be missing out on, and whose graduations I will be unable to attend. Part of me is terrified - I've never been away from home for so long, nor will I have been abroad for so long before. I don't plan to be back in the States before late August or early September, although that's just more determined wishing rather than concrete plans. And most of me is excited - I've been dreaming, hoping, waiting for this opportunity for years, and it's finally come true. I don't have too many big dreams in life, but studying abroad was one of them, and let me tell you - dreams are worth dreaming, if only just for the one or two that might come true in your lifetime. Of course, here is my cue to knock on wood that I don't end up having a miserable experience abroad.
Well, 3 days to go. Tonight I'll reflect some more. Tomorrow I'll go shopping and start figuring out what can fit into my suitcase, as well as meet up with another friend for yet another temporary goodbye. Geez, it feels like I'm leaving forever.
My first stop: Madrid! I wish I had a nice camera I could take with me for some high-quality photos. I guess my iPhone will have to make do...
Anyways.
In 3 days, I will be traveling to Spain. España. Espagne. 스페인. Whatever you want to call it, I'm studying abroad for the semester and I am flying in three days. I'm slightly terrified. Inordinately excited. Thrilled, anxious, a bit sad, nervous, stressed, exhilarated. So many words that thesaurus.com is pretty inadequate for tonight.
I've dreamt of studying abroad since I was a freshman in high school, wanting to get out of my mundane suburban lifestyle and out of the house and away from home and on my own and somewhere exotic and refreshing and breathtakingly new. When I first heard of the United World College, I thought it would be my chance to go abroad. I went to New Mexico. It was still quite a different experience, being across the country and in a whole new environment, but still not abroad. When I was choosing where to attend university, I came within a split decision to studying at a university overseas. I am now in New Jersey. Closer to home than before, although the decision to attend a university with the resources that it has has paid off through the opportunities I have had to travel to new countries for summer internships. However, it's still different from studying abroad. I always hoped in the back of my mind that I could go to a country like Spain to study, although the more my academic track deviated away from languages and international relations and such the smaller my hopes of studying in Spain dwindled. And then Cantabria happened. The engineering department at my school forged an exchange program contract with the Unviversity of Cantabria last April, and even before they had finished signing all the documents, I began planning out how to study there.
Fast forward 9 months or so, and I am three days away from Spain. Visa is in order. Finals have been completed. I have a place to stay. I still have one assignment to turn in, but I'm trying not to let that concern me. Part of me is still aching from the goodbyes I've said over the past few days - particularly to my senior friends whose last semesters I will be missing out on, and whose graduations I will be unable to attend. Part of me is terrified - I've never been away from home for so long, nor will I have been abroad for so long before. I don't plan to be back in the States before late August or early September, although that's just more determined wishing rather than concrete plans. And most of me is excited - I've been dreaming, hoping, waiting for this opportunity for years, and it's finally come true. I don't have too many big dreams in life, but studying abroad was one of them, and let me tell you - dreams are worth dreaming, if only just for the one or two that might come true in your lifetime. Of course, here is my cue to knock on wood that I don't end up having a miserable experience abroad.
Well, 3 days to go. Tonight I'll reflect some more. Tomorrow I'll go shopping and start figuring out what can fit into my suitcase, as well as meet up with another friend for yet another temporary goodbye. Geez, it feels like I'm leaving forever.
My first stop: Madrid! I wish I had a nice camera I could take with me for some high-quality photos. I guess my iPhone will have to make do...
