To travel is to partake in an adventure

I hate essays. I could write papers all day long, but as soon as you call it an essay, I feel stumped. A paper is reflected with a grade, an essay is usually reflected with an entrance invitation or a rejection letter. So why do I want to study abroad? How will it benefit me in particular? Why should I be given the opportunity over someone else? Why did I choose this particular program? What are the personal and academic goals I hope to achieve through this experience? What do I anticipate the most challenging part of the program or experience will be? Hm….good questions. Somehow the fact that I've never been off of this continent so this is a good opportunity to travel, my major requirements are small enough that I could be abroad for a year and still graduate on time, or the fact that it's an exchange program so the costs are comparable to tuition here just don't seem like good enough reasons anymore. The only problem is now I feel more lost than ever and I haven't even left for my trip yet, but why do I want to go?

The only answer I come up with is, "I don't know", which is clearly not good enough. But the more I think about it; maybe that's actually the perfect answer. I don't know. I don't know what's out there for me: what experiences I will have, what people I will meet, what the food tastes like, what the people act like, what struggles I'll have to overcome, what dangers I might be faced with, how will the experience change me as a person, what my life will be like once I come back, how will the experience change and effect the rest of my life. I just don't know.

So yes, I want to travel abroad for all of next year. Yes, I want to go to a country different than my own. Yes, I want to taste the food, meet the people, and breathe the culture I will surround myself in. I want to open my eyes to experiences far different than those of today. I want to throw myself into another culture and learn. Learn about the history, the traditions, the people, the food, my neighbors, my new friends and in the end myself. I want to learn to look beyond the comforts of my backyard and into the dangers and uncertainties of someone else's. I want to experience the world through someone else's eyes. I want to learn to adapt myself to the different people and situations I will put myself in and be put in. I want to learn from these experiences and have them shape myself to become a better citizen of the world.

So now my future goals; no matter what I do I have no doubt that this experience will be anything but beneficial. In my unknown career plans if I end up as a corporate event planner or something in TV production the experience of learning others' cultures and respecting that will be what I need to rely on. Whether I am working with international guests for the next TV episode that I'm producing, or the guest speaker at the next corporate dinner; I will have to learn to adapt to their individual cultures to better understand them and make them feel welcome in our culture.

Here's to step one of the rest of my life. Here's to the next big plans and many more to follow. Here's to experiencing more than what's in our backyard. And here's to growing spiritually, mentally and emotionally, today and every day.

"To travel is to partake in an adventure. Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky –forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Noting will ever again be black-and-white." – Mark Jenkins.

<3

Erin.