My mother worked as a travel agent from before I was born until I was around eleven. She used to tell me stories of the many trips she went on during her twenties, all the way until I came along. Back when most people used travel agents to book their trips, the travel companies sponsored trips for the agents so that the agents would recommend their travel services. I remember standing in her office and looking up at the many brochures when I was younger. Even brochures for cruises to Alaska sounded far off to my eight-year-old self. In my head, I imagined all of the trips I would go on, later in life. Ever since then I've been hooked on traveling.

Flash forward years later to when I'm thinking about possible majors, and the only thing I'm sure of is that I want to travel. I can't imagine never leaving my hometown, never going somewhere new, never experiencing cultures I've never experienced before. With the need for travel agents fast disappearing, I thought about other possibilities. After toying with the idea International Relations, I landed on International Business. Its an up and coming career that is gaining speed in many colleges. It offers me the ability to live domestically or internationally as an adult and even to do both. I have flexibility for where I want to live and get to see much of the world while doing so.

Then, it got better. I started to learn about the International Business program at College of Charleston and how it works. I knew that I wanted to study abroad while in college but it's actually a requirement! International Business requires you to study abroad and complete an International Internship… no complaints coming from me.

So my next decision was probably one of the best decisions I made my freshman year of college. I had heard about opportunities to study abroad during the Spring Break of your freshman year and I jumped at the prospect. In fact, I submitted my application in person on the first full day of classes. I was determined to study abroad as soon as possible in my college career. Now that I had something to look forward to, I had finally found a way to get excited about studying and working towards a goal.

For my first study abroad experience I went to England for a week. The class I took before hand was on soccer (or football in the UK) and we compared the MLS (Major League Soccer) in the US to the Premier League in England. I would call the overall experience a success because it allowed me to study abroad for a shorter amount of time and get my bearings on the whole experience before diving head first into a semester or year long trip.

My freshman year of college has without question aided in my hunger for what's coming in both my career and travels.