“Sorry! I don't want any
adventures, thank you. Not Today. Good morning! But please come to tea -any
time you like! Why not tomorrow? Good bye!” -Bilbo Baggins, J.R.R.
Tolkien
If someone had told me a year ago today that I would
be leaving the country in just a matter of weeks I would have never believed
them. I am not the type of person who enjoys leaving the house very much. I
enjoy being at home. It is a peaceful place where I can relax, eat what and
when I want, and am surrounded by the people I know and love most. However I
realized that I would never accomplish anything if I spent all my time sitting
at home. For two years I had done nothing but get up, go to class, and then
drive straight back home do homework and go to sleep only to start the process
all over again the next day. I didn’t think I would be able to survive another
quarter going through this routine; I needed something different something new.
It was in early October 2012 that I attended UC Riverside’s Study Abroad Fair. I was walking around looking at all the different programs never really considering signing up for any of them. I then happened to walk by a table that simply said ‘Barcelona’, which grabbed my attention right away. Barcelona, Spain was my number one dream destination for several reasons that I won’t go into in this post. Anyways there was no representative at the table in that moment so I decided to walk around and comeback later. When I returned there was a lady at the table, Elena. If I had to think back on the one moment that convinced to take that chance to study abroad it would be meeting and speaking to Elena. She was just so excited, it was contagious. She made everything sound so fun and thrilling and it just made me want to feel what she was feeling. Her passion and love for Barcelona was truly amazing. I was sold and had signed up to get more information about the program right then and there.
I began the first steps of what would be a long process in late November. At that moment I still wasn’t sure I would go through with it. I spent a lot of time thinking about it during my winter break. Should I go off on a once in a lifetime adventure or stay within the comfort of the places I already knew so well? Well after a lot of thinking and with some help of those close to me I decided the best thing for me to do would be to take the risk and step out of my own little world in order to be able experience the real one. So come January I picked up where I had left off and continued the application process.
The months went by pretty quickly. I had several meetings, piles of paperwork, a full inbox, and all my regular school work to keep up with during that time. I read pre-orientation handbooks, attended safety workshops, filled out housing preference, and picked my classes. Everything was on track.
During this time I kept my plans to myself. No one other than my mom, dad, sister, and closest friends knew anything about this. I did not want to tell anyone out of fear that telling them would somehow change my mind. If I told someone I highly respected about my plans and was met by their disapproval there is no doubt in my mind I would have begun to second guess my decision. Since one could never be 100% sure about anything I wanted to wait until I was at least 90% sure. I was honestly scared about telling people. What if they were not as happy about this as I was? The opinion of those I love matters a whole lot to me and no matter how I would try and hide it, it would affect me. I also believed that telling people would make the situation much more real (as if it weren’t already). However after I bought my plane ticket I began telling people and to my surprise everyone was really excited for me. Instead of making me doubt my decision most of them filled me up with so much positive energy I felt I had made the right choice for myself.
Now with less than 20 days left before my trip I am filled with all these different emotions; excitement, fear, happiness and sadness. Yet even while I finalize paperwork, shop for last minute items, and watch the countdown clock it still hasn’t really hit me. I am not sure why that is but I’m certain it won’t be much longer until the fact I am leaving comes around and punches me in the face. I never thought I would actually go through with something like this and I believe that is why it’s so hard for me to believe it is actually happening. For so long I have avoided these types of adventures, always thinking that it was better to wait, to hold it off for just another day another month another year. But I couldn’t hold it off anymore. It was time to take this step and I believe that it’s the best decision I could have taken at this point in my life.
So here with 16 days left for my trip I begin this blog. I will try to post as much as I can as often as I can. I will write, post pictures, post videos, and anything else I think I should share. This is something very new for me so follow me on my journey as I set off on my very own and very new adventure. -E.A.
It was in early October 2012 that I attended UC Riverside’s Study Abroad Fair. I was walking around looking at all the different programs never really considering signing up for any of them. I then happened to walk by a table that simply said ‘Barcelona’, which grabbed my attention right away. Barcelona, Spain was my number one dream destination for several reasons that I won’t go into in this post. Anyways there was no representative at the table in that moment so I decided to walk around and comeback later. When I returned there was a lady at the table, Elena. If I had to think back on the one moment that convinced to take that chance to study abroad it would be meeting and speaking to Elena. She was just so excited, it was contagious. She made everything sound so fun and thrilling and it just made me want to feel what she was feeling. Her passion and love for Barcelona was truly amazing. I was sold and had signed up to get more information about the program right then and there.
I began the first steps of what would be a long process in late November. At that moment I still wasn’t sure I would go through with it. I spent a lot of time thinking about it during my winter break. Should I go off on a once in a lifetime adventure or stay within the comfort of the places I already knew so well? Well after a lot of thinking and with some help of those close to me I decided the best thing for me to do would be to take the risk and step out of my own little world in order to be able experience the real one. So come January I picked up where I had left off and continued the application process.
The months went by pretty quickly. I had several meetings, piles of paperwork, a full inbox, and all my regular school work to keep up with during that time. I read pre-orientation handbooks, attended safety workshops, filled out housing preference, and picked my classes. Everything was on track.
During this time I kept my plans to myself. No one other than my mom, dad, sister, and closest friends knew anything about this. I did not want to tell anyone out of fear that telling them would somehow change my mind. If I told someone I highly respected about my plans and was met by their disapproval there is no doubt in my mind I would have begun to second guess my decision. Since one could never be 100% sure about anything I wanted to wait until I was at least 90% sure. I was honestly scared about telling people. What if they were not as happy about this as I was? The opinion of those I love matters a whole lot to me and no matter how I would try and hide it, it would affect me. I also believed that telling people would make the situation much more real (as if it weren’t already). However after I bought my plane ticket I began telling people and to my surprise everyone was really excited for me. Instead of making me doubt my decision most of them filled me up with so much positive energy I felt I had made the right choice for myself.
Now with less than 20 days left before my trip I am filled with all these different emotions; excitement, fear, happiness and sadness. Yet even while I finalize paperwork, shop for last minute items, and watch the countdown clock it still hasn’t really hit me. I am not sure why that is but I’m certain it won’t be much longer until the fact I am leaving comes around and punches me in the face. I never thought I would actually go through with something like this and I believe that is why it’s so hard for me to believe it is actually happening. For so long I have avoided these types of adventures, always thinking that it was better to wait, to hold it off for just another day another month another year. But I couldn’t hold it off anymore. It was time to take this step and I believe that it’s the best decision I could have taken at this point in my life.
So here with 16 days left for my trip I begin this blog. I will try to post as much as I can as often as I can. I will write, post pictures, post videos, and anything else I think I should share. This is something very new for me so follow me on my journey as I set off on my very own and very new adventure. -E.A.
This is amazing! I'm so happy for you! I hope you have some amazing adventures in the great land of barcelona!
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