My Fears of Change

Although I am extremely happy and excited about studying abroad. I'm also really nervous. Being away from the people I love and completely out of my comfort zone is kinda scary. I'm afraid that when I leave and come back that everything will be different. Which is the truth. But I don't know how different things will be. Will my friends move on and change? What will happen to my understanding of schoo here? How much will change and will I be able to deal with it? These are what kind of questions I have been asking myself even before I knew for a fact that was going to France. I know that everything has to change because time stops for no one. And I'm happy that things are going to change, for the most part. I'm just afraid I'll not be able to comfort it when I get back. But regardless of how I feel I know that I will have to wait and see what happens. I can't see into the future. So for now my worries will be there, but I will always look on the bright side of things and make the most of the present and the opportunity I am given.

The Long Wait.... It's FINALLY Becomeing a Reality

Today I finally realized how close everything is. I am finally on the last few laps of my journey towards France. I leave the 29th of August and I feel as though its going to come sooner than I will be able to process it. Before today, I waited anxiously for almost two weeks to know whether I would truely fulfill my dream of studying abroad. I kept thinking of the worst cases that I would not be able to go. I didn't get much sleep either. What helped me the most was my close friends who I had talked to about how nervous I was. I don't think I could have stayed sane without them. They are my rock.

That is why I have decided that the first thing I do when I get to the Hub city before the other study abroad students leave the states or before we leave to our different cities in the same country, we must all get contact information so that we lean on each other if we need someone to talk to that is going throught the same thing as us.

Anyways. What I really wanted to say is that my dream has finally took flight and has become a reality! =D

I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life, and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.” - Georgia O’Keeffe.

This quotes explains my feeling whenever I do something new. I'm usually scared, nervous, and excited all at once. This I think is a normal feeling for peopl, if not feel free to tell me I'm crazy. Regardless of this anxiousness I feel that if there weren't any risks taken I wouldn't have any stories to share and my life would be epically boring. That is why the motto that goes so well with this specific quote is: The biggest risk in life, Is the one you do not take.

Ever have that moment of which your just scared and don't know what to do? That anything goes wrong your whole life will seem like its completely ruined? Well if you don't take those risks, chances are you will never know if the situation would have benefited you or not. This applies to everything that happens in your life. I know that when I am faced with a life changeing situation I always think of two things. 1) Will what I'm doing kill me. 2) What happens afterward? These two things play a ping pong match in my brain. But I found that if I just don't go for it, I usually chicken out and have miss a perfect opportunity that may have once in a lifetime.

So take a leap of faith and challenge yourself. That is what I'm doing with study abroad and I hope everything will go will and I have the time of my life.

The Five Things That I'll Miss Most When I'm Abroad.

I believe that the there will always be an emptiness that I will feel when I leave home because I have to leave things behind when I travel. I can't take my whole life with me wherever I go. I simply don't have the lugages capacity or the amount of money that would cost me. The five things I would miss most would be my dogs, my friends, my family, my school, and most of all my safety net. I'm not exactly sure how I will react to everything, but one thing is for sure, I'm going to miss and worry about them.

They say homesickness happens to everyone and it depends how you deal with it. My theory is that homesickness only effects you if your not making the most out of your trip. Like most teenagers I have many friends that are dear to me. This makes the goodbyes even harder and my family is important to me as well. Even when I have internet access I'll still be constently worrying about what's happening to them. I'll very worried about my dogs. They are one of the most important things in my life and if anything would happen to them I would be crushed. That aside my main concern is the school and my lack of safety net. I will be at a disadvantage with my language skills at a rocky start, but with work I know I can manage. The safety net though I will have to establish quickly, but carefuly because if my net isn't secure I may fall victim to an extreme homesickness. Although everything here sounds like I am going to be a completely mess I think I can manage. This is an amazing opportunity and I intend to make the most of it! =D

Top Ten Reasons That I am Studying Abroad

1. Traveling/ Studying abroad is a life-altering experience!
         Seeing new things helps keeps an open mind. You learn so much from the people you meet and the places you see.

2. Learn about yourself and gain independence.
        When you travel you learn more about yourself in the sense that you don;t have to be a certain way. You don't have to be the person that you were at home, no one will judge you. When there's no one to lean on you have to learn how to step up and care for yourself.

3. Gain perspective on your own country and culture.
        Stepping out of you comfort zone and learning new things, you never know what is ahead of you. It helps you understand why people assume things about you when you don't even know them because of where your from.

4. Learn a language in the country where it is spoken.
        Studying abroad allows students to learn from the best and be challenged in learning the language quickly and effectively. This is also great because when you make friends in that country in order to communicate with them you have to learn their language. It can be a fun experience if you just let yourself make mistakes.

5. Resume builder.
         Being open-minded and willing to take a challenge is part of being a well-rounded individual. these are
also qualitites collegs and employers look for and study abroad provides.

6. Programs work with any academic program.
        It's important to know that even though opportunities should be taken quickly when studying abroad. It's not a one time thing. You can always reapply with different/ same companies. Also although I am a high school student venturing out into this, college is also another opportuity to do this kind of program.

7. Experiencing hands-on learning.
        It's not a text book that you can read and take a test on. You are in an environment that you must learn quickly to survive. You have to adapt. Like the saying goes: when in rome do as the romans do.

8. See the world.
       You get to not only leave your home country but also see a new one and learn about a different culture. Unlike a visitor you are in the country not to sight-see but to learn so much more. You get to be quick on your feet and creative in communicating. You get to have fun and learn.

9. Make connections that last a lifetime.
         When your away from home you meet new people. These people can be the check-out clerk at a market or a random person you meet, either way they make what your experience that more memorable. You'll always remember the situation bett if you meet great people.

10. Being away from home is fun, exciting, nerve-wrecking, and AMAZING!
         It's up to you to make the most of you trip. I know I will try my very very hardest to have the time of my life.

The Beginning

It's true that you never know what is going to happen in the future. I am on my way to becomeing a well rounded student and civilian of the future. I don't know how everything seemed to happen. Let my start off with how it began. I first wanted to study abroad at the end of my 8th grade year. I really wanted to travel and see the world. I wanted to be a study abroad student because you get to see things from a different point of view in the country that you are going to. Sure traveling as a visitor into a country is easier, but you don't get to learn about the people and see it throught the eyes of the people who live there. My top three choices were England, France, and Spain. These three countries all have amazing history and architecture. I wanted to learn more. So i started to do more reasearch on those countries trying to find boarding schools and opportunities to study abroad. I came accross AYUSA and knew it was the program that I needed to sign up for. Although it took me a year and a half to talk my parents into letting my go throught process of applying I finally did it. After taking three months to finish my ten essays and getting all my proper documents signed, I sent in my application. It took a month or so. The hardest was waiting to know if I was accepted into the program or not. I was so nervous. I would constently check my e-mails and voice messages to see if any of the program leaders had contacted me. I was also very excited. So imaged how happy I was when I was told I was accepted! After being accepted and waiting another month or so to see what family I would be placed in and what city I would be staying in, I am finally in the final stages of my journey to France.