Student Bloggers

I have known about my study abroad experience since October, but waiting for August 30^th has been like waiting for Christmas; you don’t realize you’re waiting until those last few weeks when time decides to move at a glacial pace. I have all the essentials: outlet adaptors, space saving bags, an unlocked cell phone, the only thing left is to just get on the plane. I wouldn’t consider myself a dramatic person, but these next twelve days feel like an eternity to the overly excited.

As a senior, I have had to take a few extra steps in preparing to leave. I am applying to graduate school but I did not want the stress of applications to retract from my time in Galway. My advice to future senior-year travelers: try to get as much of your graduation prep as possible done before you leave campus for the summer. Ask those professors you love about being your professional references, fill out the “I promise I’m graduating” forms, and start figuring out what you want to do after that fateful graduation day approaches. I have never been abroad, but I can imagine these are not the kinds of things I’ll want to be thinking about when there is a whole new world outside my door.

My next tip for those planning a semester away: buy a one-way ticket. I learned the hard way that airlines do not take kindly to rearranging international flights and it is intimidating committing to a return date 6 months before you even arrive. Thank goodness I have a patient mom who was able to get a return flight arranged so I don’t have to miss New Year’s Eve in Rome with my family, but I could have saved myself a lot of unnecessary stress (and “hold” music) if I would have purchased my return flight ticket separately.

While I know I will miss my family and friends, we have already planned Skype chats and have already started practicing communicating through email and Facebook. What I think I will miss most while I am gone are those fall experiences unique to college. I am going to miss going to football games and meeting my new sorority sisters right away. I am going to miss getting ready for homecoming events, losing my voice at hockey games, and walking to get coffee on Sunday afternoons. These moments have always been significant to me and they are moments I won’t have again as a Gustavus student. But at the same time, I would not trade this opportunity for 10 more years of those moments. I know the next four months will bring incredible memories. I’ve only ever lived in the Midwest, I’ve never stood on a cliff overlooking the ocean, or flown to Paris for a weekend trip. I have absolutely no idea how to play rugby and I have never known what it is like to be away from the United States. But in a few short months, these things won’t be true anymore and I can only imagine the impact this journey will have on me.

So, like a kid awaiting Christmas, 13 more days. I can’t wait to meet you, Galway.