The Road to Studying Abroad: The Commitment
I got to school in Wisconsin. That means, for about 6 months of the school year, the temperature is wavering somewhere between -30 degrees and cold. As I was preparing my sled dogs for the daily journey to campus on a cold Tuesday in February, I remembered that class today consisted of watching a movie for 75 minutes. On top of that, the professor is out of town. So lets get this straight. I have two choices: A, I trudge through a blizzard to get to class and force myself to stay awake for a movie that may or may not pertain to the class that mind you, the professor is not present and will have no way of knowing whether or not I showed up. B, I can be a responsible adult and watch Netflix all day. Seeing as though the Gilmore Girls revival was not on Netflix yet, there stood only one painful option left. Sucking up all the courage I could, I set off for class.
Wow Nick, you are probably thinking, That was a. . .really interesting decision. As I am shedding my 50 pounds of snow gear, I notice a new face standing in front of the room. He was an interesting man, dressed straight out of a Sherlock Holmes film. Curiosity inevitably kicked in. As the rest of the class settled down and took their seats, he introduced himself as Dr. Johnson, here to talk to us about an opportunity of a lifetime.
No, Dr. J was not trying to sell me the latest and greatest line of vacuum cleaners. He was here to talk to the class about studying abroad. At the mere utterance of the word my ears shut off. All I heard was white noise, with little money signs clouding my vision. There is no point in trying to avoid it. Money is a huge factor is almost everything we do, education especially. There is absolutely no way I can afford to do this. But heres the thing. I REALLY wanted to study abroad. 5 weeks in Europe, traveling to places like London, Paris, Berlin, and Prague. Lounging in front of the eiffel tower for an afternoon snack, or discussing the hidden meaning behind Kafka’s The Metamorphosis with the Berliner Dome resting ominously in the background. Come on, who would not want to do that? In this moment, I, along with anyone who as ever traveled abroad, or who is thinking about, had to make the crucial decision. Later in life, am I going to regret not going on a trip of a lifetime just to save X amount of dollars right now? For me, the answer to that was an overwhelming no.
So, there it is. I am on the road to studying abroad. What happens next? Tune in next time to find out (Hint: it involves puppies).
