Growing up, I had an extreme case of wanderlust. I dreamed of traveling the world, meeting new people, marveling at historic sites, and enjoying all different types of food. I saw Youtubers traveling everywhere when I was in middle school and I said that I wanted to do the same. As I grew up more, I realized just how expensive traveling anywhere can be, let alone traveling overseas. I did not think about the cost associated with all those trips, and when I finally realized how monumentally unlikely it would be that I would ever travel in my youth, I was disappointed.
As much as I yearned to go somewhere in my youth, I realized that would be unlikely. In high school, my teachers would always talk about study abroad programs and how great they were. They told us that they were really fun and not as expensive as one would think. My Spanish teacher sophomore year told us that she studied abroad during her time at Rutgers University in Salamanca, Spain. She constantly raved about her experience and told us how she had many fond memories over there. Since then, every single person who has ever studied abroad has told me it has been the one decision they do not regret making.
I've seen old friends of mine posting pictures and videos on Snapchat of places so beautiful that they look unreal. I am awestruck by the magnificent sites and bodies of water they post all the time. One of my friends spent a lot of her time in Italy and some time in France. They are both beautiful countries.
It seems like everyone I talk to in college has an amazing study abroad story to tell and that has motivated me to want to study abroad myself. I'm not sure if it will happen, but I really want it to. I've found out more information on it and have realized that it would be an amazing opportunity. The reason I used to be hesitant about it was that I was afraid to be somewhere that far away from my family. I was scared I'd get sick and not have anyone there for me. But lately, I've realized that in life you have to take chances to make your dreams come true.
I hope a few months or even a year from now I can be back here writing about my amazing study abroad experience, but if I'm not, I hope I find another way to see the world. The world is so vast and I have seen so little of it. It's time to change that, one way or another.
