As I write this, I am less than a month away from a two week trip to Thailand. Every day, I am swarmed with feelings of joy, excitement and eagerness to visit there and make a difference, yet that doesn't change how terrified I am too.
It was a random weekday in health class that I received the flyer advertising the trip, and it was the very next day that I attended the information session. Videos of people in schools teaching English, in villages building bridges and in rivers building canoes overwhelmed me with the sense of "I want to do this." Once I'd spoken to my parents, I applied that night, and two days later, I'd been accepted onto the trip with hundreds of other G.I.V.E volunteers. In less than five days, I had just committed myself to something that was guaranteed to change my life.
For months, this adventure has felt so far away, and now that it's here, it's hard to deny my nerves. For starters, I have yet to meet someone else in my group, seeing as though we are all coming from various parts of the globe. I continuously need to remind myself how close we will all get when we travel there, and how meeting people in a huge part of this experience.
Secondly, I dread the flights. I've been on numerous planes before, so the flying itself doesn't overwhelm me - but the length of time does. With a 12 hour flight by myself to Doha, a six hour flight to Bangkok with a girl I just met and an hour and a half hour flight into our final destination, it's easy to feel anxious. However, I know that no matter how long it takes to travel there, it'll be completely worth it. The sights I will see and the people I will meet will be memories that will stay with me forever.
To anyone who may be nervous about studying abroad or volunteering somewhere you haven't been before, I say just do it. Put yourself out there to try new things and create a challenge every day. Studying abroad is something very few people get to do, but you can learn incredible amounts of knowledge from it. It's crazy how fast this trip has came up since the first day I received that flyer in class, and now here it is. Knowing I will go to Thailand as one person and come out having experienced the most incredible things thrills me. So even though the apprehensions may never go away until I finally get there, Thailand will be a place that will change my life for the better, and I don't think I will realize just how much until I have left.
