Thursday, November 4, 2010

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore" André Gide

It was September 27th and probably the best news that I could hear on a Monday morning.  I received the email from the American University in Bulgaria, my first location of choice for studying abroad the spring semester of 2011, and was confused at first, expecting my notification of acceptance to be something more along the lines of a letter in the mail, but here I was, walking out of my first class of the day, holding my Blackberry in my hands with the words "Welcome to AUBG..." written across the screen.  Excitement settled in and for the next few minutes, I was a very happy girl, to say the least.  Sitting through my next class, however, the reality that I was leaving my home, my family, my friends, my school, and everything else I had grown to love over the past 20 years of my life was setting in.  The excitement and anticipation was still there though, and I knew that this was good, that this was the norm.  Stepping foot out of my comfort zone is something I have to do, and as nervous as it makes me that I will be boarding a plane to Bulgaria on January 10, 2011 and will not return home for four months, I'm equally, if not more, eager to begin my journey.  Yes, my parents will be worrying every second (although, Mom & Dad, I sincerely hope you don't) and I will be taking tremendous risks, but I will also be traveling to places I never thought I'd see, meeting AUBG students from over 37 different countries around the world, and living a dream...and I know my parents will eventually get used to the fact that I'm a big girl and will be just fine.


AndrĂ© Gibe certainly knew what he was saying (and thank you, Carolyn, for this quote!).  Courage is everything, and I know when I'm saying my goodbyes to my family and friends in two short months, I will need every ounce of courage I can muster.


In the end, though, four months?  It will fly by, and I will be back home before I know it, with a suitcase full of amazing memories...and truthfully, yes, I cannot wait until January 10th.