Dear New Friends,

When I first decided I wanted to take a trip to Europe, my first thought was, "Who am I going to take on this journey with?" When registering for the international course, I looked at the roster and quickly realized that I knew absolutely nobody in the class. I thought, "Maybe this will be a good thing and I can meet new people while taking on a brand new journey in my life." As the date quickly approached, I began to worry that I would not have anyone to go on adventures with in Europe and I wouldn't have anyone to talk to. I suddenly realized that I had no plans for myself on the trip and no one to make plans with.

This quickly changed in the instant I got to the airport and found comfort in you as my new friends. I realized that if you simply have the same interests as people, it is easy to click together and form a friendship. It is human nature to hold yourself back from unfamiliar people and not necessarily find comfort right away, but with you guys I felt no need to hold myself back. I don't know what I would have done on our trip if you guys didn't make me feel like I could be myself and have a blast.

Thank you for being so cool.

You guys rock. Each day I was excited to wake up and trek through our visits together just to spend another night out in strange parts of Europe, learning about you guys as my new friends.

Thanks for teaching me about myself.

There is inspiration in meeting new personalities and getting to know new people that inspires me to learn more about myself.

Thanks for thinking like me.

We just met each other, yet we were always on the same page and thinking exactly alike, which helped me get through some of the boring and annoying parts of our trip.

Thanks for laughing with me.

I don't know what I would have done for 10 days if I didn't have you guys to laugh with so hard each day.

From tasting all the chocolate in Belgium and exploring the basement of old churches to eating and drinking at several pubs in London with our extremely smart and politically correct British friends, I couldn't have asked for a better experience. There were laughs and good drunk fun, but I also found myself learning so much about the world and even about our own country.

You guys taught me that meeting new people and enduring a journey together can be so easily done. I never thought 10 days with new people would teach me so much about someone else as well as myself. I now have a drive to meet new people and travel to places I have never been before. Wandering around Europe together and exploring new places with you guys was the best.

Sincerely,

Bridge