“Congratulations! You have been accepted to study abroad…” I never thought I would read those words, well, never addressed to me. As my departure day has begun to creep up to less than a month away, I am realizing how different of a person I must be to want to leave my home for three months. Maybe I’m not a different person, maybe my only perspective has changed.

I have always been somewhat of a homebody and I surprised myself by going to a college four and a half hours away from my home. The past two years I have learned to make college my second home and I now can’t wait to return-not that I don’t love coming back home still as well. This time I won’t be going back to Rose with the rest of campus.

I always heard about people from other colleges talk about studying abroad and how awesome of an experience it was, but I never once thought, ‘that could be me’. Now it will be. Soon I will be hopping on a plane to Ireland. A seven and a half hour, moderately expensive flight away from home. Me from a year ago would never believe it. I thought it was almost impossible to stay on track and study abroad while at Rose, but I learned if it’s meant to be, the opportunity will arise.

I first heard about the chance to go to Ireland (with a specific civil engineering focused curriculum) while sitting in geology. I looked at one of my friends in the class and she had the same excited/questioning look on her face wondering if it were a real possibility. After class, we approached our professor and he explained the details he had. He said it might actually take the program a while to come together, but that we should be patient.

Once I got the idea of studying abroad in my head as a real possibility I couldn’t let it go. I knew that I would have a difficult time actually signing the dotted line that committed me to leaving home, but researching every possible international university was no problem. Nearing the end of winter term it didn’t seem like the Irish program was going to work out and we set out to find another program that would fit in our weird term system. Sweden was the next best option we had, so we applied and were accepted into the program. For a little while, I thought I would be in Sweden for two months with a month off for travel and relaxation time.

Shortly after St Patrick’s Day we heard that the Irish program was beginning to get its feet off the ground. At this point Sweden was starting to look more expensive than it was worth so I was thrilled that the Irish program might work out. A month or so later we took a gamble and rescinded our acceptance to Sweden in order to apply to the University of Limerick as soon as the program was finalized. During finals week we received the go ahead to apply. The official acceptance waiting game started again.

Halfway through June, I opened an email from our Global Programs center with our official acceptance letters. I was ecstatic and told everyone at my summer internship that it was official. I was going to Ireland. I went online and immediately committed myself to going. After all the patience and hours spent figuring every little detail out, it was finally formalized.

Then, the fun normal college stuff began: applying for housing, reading up on things to do, finding flights, and making lists of what to bring. (Only so much can fit in a suitcase and carry-on.) I occasionally browse the university website and I just get excited to go all over again. I am so ready to explore Ireland and get a taste of Europe on weekend adventures.

Though worries have crossed my mind about how everything will pan out over there, I know that I have one of my best friends going along for the ride. I know that I am able to handle anything school or Ireland has to throw my way. It’s been a long haul to get here so far, but I am certain it will be worth it!