I was lucky enough, for spring break this year, to travel with one of my classes to Paris, France. I've always dreamed about going to Paris, like most people I've had a sort of infatuation with it for a long time. The fashion, the art, the lights, the love, it all intrigued me. However, I also was incredibly afraid of flying, which always took precedence over my love for the city. Of course, though, my colleges honors program was taking a trip over spring break to Paris this year, and my boyfriend both wanted to go together. He eventually talked me into it.

I was dreading it a little, but for the few months leading up to the flight and trip, I didn't think about it much and therefore didn't worry much about it. However, when we got to the week of the flight, I started to panic.

First, with tips from my professor, boyfriend, and classmates, I knew I'd have to pack light. Especially if I planned on bringing gifts back, which I did. My only issue with this, was that I loved fashion and we were going to the fashion capital. Wearing the same outfit 3 times in a week or dressing down just wasn't an option. I did, though, manage to pack 8 different outfits with only a few articles of clothing. It was only impressive.

After the packing was done, I calmed down a bit. I was excited to finally go to the city I've been dreaming about and spend it with a great group of people, including my boyfriend. The nerves, of course, are not that simple.

The night before the flight I laid awake in bed with butterflies in my stomach and my eyes wide open. Multiple times that night I considered myself crazy. I swore I'd never go on a plane, but I was going.

The day of was honestly not as nerve-wracking as I imagined. I had butterflies most of the day. To be fair, almost all of that day was spent in a car until we arrived at the airport.

The airport and security were definitely intimidating. I was lucky enough to be around a group, which included many experienced fliers, so any questions or nerves I had could be answered or calmed immediately.

Going through security was definitely scary. You don't have any idea what's going on and there are so many regulations, you have to take your shoes off, and it's just...intimidating. I found myself just looking around a few times waiting for someone to tell me what to do.

Finally, we got on the plane. We walked through first class and I thought to myself "wow this is nice, this won't be bad." Until, of course, I realized we were in first class and our tickets were not. So I walked to the back of the plane, following my group, and was just overwhelmed at the size of the aircraft. We found our seats, my boyfriend switched with someone so we could sit next to each other, everyone had complimentary blankets and pillows and a TV was in the back of every seat. Yeah, okay, this isn't awful.

I needed up in almost the exact middle of the plane, which I'm not sure if I was happy about or not. I would have liked to see the city lights and the clouds below us, from the glimpses I got it was an amazing view, but at the same time, I'm not sure that would've helped my fear. Being away from windows, the plane just felt like a car or a low-intensity rollercoaster.

We left the ground, I squeezed my boyfriend's hand until it hurt, and that was it. The take off wasn't scary and my nerves were almost gone by the time the food came around.

Now, the food really did live up to its stereotypes; it wasn't great. But, it was alright. And yes, I did sit too close to a stranger and he used the armrest the whole time, and no, there wasn't any leg room, but I was going to Paris, France; it was hard to find too much to complain about.