All my life I have looked up to my older sister. She played soccer, so I played soccer. She thought something was funny; so did I. We dressed the same, talked the same, and did everything alike. So when my sister decided to study abroad in Florence, Italy I knew that I would one day want to do the same.

Going abroad is so much more than just wanting to follow my sister's example. It is about living and learning and growing. While I’m devastated to leave my beautiful college campus for a whole semester, somehow, when I’m surrounded by the Italian terrain, I think I’ll be alright.

For me, studying abroad provides an amazing opportunity to immerse myself in something new, to live in a culture so utterly different from my own. While part of me hopes that I'll be reliving the Lizzie McGuire movie, I want my experience to be so much more than that.

I want to see the world. I want to leave, only to return a better person. I want these memories for my entire life. I am fortunate enough to have this opportunity, and I don't want to waste it. I have extraordinarily high hopes for this trip, but only because I know that they will not only be met, but surpassed.

I'm sad about what I'll be missing back home. It's hard to think that this will be the first Thanksgiving dinner that I haven't spent with my family. But life is all about choices. It is our decisions that comprise who we are. And this one is mine. So, here is to whatever is next. Here is to the future adventures in the hopes that they never end.