Preparations

So I just spent the past 10 minutes in a panic because I had absolutely no idea how to sign into this account to make another post. Awesome.

Anyway, just thought I'd give a brief update as to what I'm doing to prepare for everything. I'm leaving in mid-January which is only about a month and a half away. Crazy. I've basically been looking into the travel arrangements I'm going to have to make in order to just get there for orientation. I'm booking my plane ticket tomorrow in the hopes that there's some sort of Cyber Monday deal I can latch onto. From there, it looks like I'm going to need to book a short train from Heathrow airport to Paddington Station in central London so I can catch a 3-hour train to Swansea. Up until now, the idea of studying abroad has been just that - an idea, a bullet point on the "list of things to do while I'm at college" that remained in the realm of theory instead of reality. It's starting to hit me that in the very near future I'm going to be alone in the U.K. trying to make my way to a random city in Wales that I've never been to before. I can't call home for help, and I can't call on any friends in the area. Thank goodness everyone there will at least speak English. Part of me is wondering what I was thinking: my navigation skills are dreadful, I'm not the biggest risk-taker, and I'm delaying graduation by a semester.

So why am I doing this?

1) I may never get another chance to drop everything in my life and just have an adventure. I feel like people tend to placate themselves by saying that they'll travel one day, or they're waiting for a financial cushion to take the risk for going for their dream job. I've done it so many times, and I know I've missed out because I didn't leap at an opportunity because it was more convenient to stay the course. I want to change that about myself. I want to try to take risks and mess up and make something happen now while I don't have a career or family to tie me down. I have yet to really set roots, and I want to take advantage of that while I can. It seems like something that I would regret not trying at some point, but I don't see the reverse being true.

2) I want to become more educated about other cultures. I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by the education I've received thus far. It has truly been a joy to learn from my incredibly professors and colleagues. I can't help but feel, however, that this country's education system is overly westernized. I can't help but feel ignorant in some of my classes when a professor references a historical event outside of the U.S. or western Europe. I believe the education I will receive at Swansea will be more inclusive of other cultures while residing in a learning environment that I'm still familiar with. I also think that seeing an outsider's view of the U.S. will help me gain a more well-rounded perspective of this country which will better inform my political leanings.

3) I want to firmly establish my independence. I want to gain the confidence and the experience to be able to have enough courage to go after my dream job, even if it means moving to New York. I want to know that I can set up roots anywhere and be able to create my own life out of it. I want to know that despite what life has shown me so far, the American dream is still alive, and I have the ability to do anything as long as I have the determination to go after it. It seems silly to think that I would need to go to Wales in order to "discover America" but let's go with it anyway.

4) I'm doing this for my dad. Last winter/spring, I mentioned to him how I was looking into studying abroad. I named a couple of programs that I was interested in and thought nothing of it. When I checked my email later that night, I found 4 or 5 emails from him filled with links and videos to all sorts of information about the quality of education at the universities, the history of the towns, tips to consider while studying abroad, and, most amusing, was his commentary concerning each. He kept going back and forth about whether or not he should give me advice because he wanted it to be completely my decision despite his favoritism toward Swansea. (He reluctantly told me about a haunted castle - quite Harry Potter-esque - on the campus of a different university because he was worried I might think that was cool enough to disregard everything else.) Throughout the coming months, we discussed various places I should go while I was in Europe. He had studied abroad for a year in college in France, and it was a time he spoke of fondly. Throughout the summer, I would ask him to tell me stories from his time in Europe, and he promised to show me his slides so I could get a better mental image. We were already close - there wouldn't be a day that went by when I wouldn't call him - but sharing this experience of travelling through Europe was going to be one of our things. So even if none of my previous reasons were enough to convince me, there's no way I would willingly let go this. This experience is as much a tribute to him as it is for my own growth.

Anyway, I have no idea how to gracefully transition that to something more light-hearted so...Christmas-themed fish?? Yes, they did just get more awesome.

And so it begins.

Hello everyone!

I'm thinking maybe about 2 people will ever see this page anyway, but I think it'll be useful to look back on eventually. I decided to keep a blog while I'm abroad so that people back home will be able to keep up with what I'm doing, and hopefully, I'll have a nice record that I can look back on in 15 years and be able to remember what happened. I'd like to update this on a semi-regular basis if for no other reason than to keep myself writing, so I'm not entirely sure where my thoughts will take me. I had the idea to make this about 10 minutes ago so it's been done without much thought, and I do hope to improve on the quality of everything as it takes a more definable form. Anyway, I'm excited for this to all get underway and to be able to relay all that in the blog. Until next time!

Jessica

Side note: Look at these sweet fish on the page. And I can choose what color they are. They are reason enough for this blog to exist.