Skip to main content

Sometimes it hits me

"You get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love but you'll also miss the person you are now at this time and place because you'll never be this way again"
I'm not quite sure where I stumbled upon this quote, but it's something I've kept in the back of my mind for the last month or so. It's something that struck me, something that glued itself to me with all the events unfolding in my life. In less than a month, I'll leave the only home I've ever known and distance myself from the ones I love the most (except for you Heidz, you'll be stuck with me), I'll be away from family and friends, my most prized possessions, for the next five months, and forced to experience life in an entirely new culture surrounded by unfamiliar faces and places.

Studying abroad is something that excites me and terrifies me at the same time. It's something I've dreamed of doing my entire life, but the closer it gets the more anxious I get thinking of everyone and everything I'll be leaving at home. In all honesty, I call my mom to and from class multiple times a day, just to hear her voice and tell her what i ate for lunch. It's the stupid uneventful phone calls, the drunken mistakes with all my friends, Iowa city, all the memories I will miss. It's the Friday night Donnelley's beer with my dad, the Saturday morning hangover veg sessions, the walks to class, the people that I will miss. I will miss so much here, so many people and so many things, but I can't wait to come back and share with all my old friends stories of my new friends, and new places. I can't wait to have these colorful and vibrant stories that no one else will have, but I will because I ventured away from home. It takes a brave soul to leave home, and venture into the unknown. I have no idea where I will travel, who I will meet or what I will see- but I know it will be an incredible journey.

I can't wait to share my journey with everyone, I promise it will be full of eventful and questionable decisions. As nervous as I am, I know it will be something that will become a part of me, and open new doors and pathways I've never considered.

So, Cork, Ireland, here I come.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why we can learn from our dogs.

Beyoncé once asked, "Who run the world?", and she then answered for all of us when she obviously said, "Girls"...I mean it's true, we (as a collective gender) gave birth to the world. However, I think Queen Bey forgot something very important when it comes to people, and those who rule it--it would be impossible to run anything if you didn't have (hu)man's best friend by your side. Not only do dogs selflessly provide us with something to pet and keep us warm at night, but they provide us with undeniable and unrelenting love and affection. It would be pretty lonely ruling the world without a dog there to put a little pep into your step. It seems silly, really, that dogs don't get any credit for making the world a better place. It also seems silly that I'm even thinking about dogs ruling the world (hey, that's not a horrible idea). But I think there's some value into considering that while humans can change a dogs life, it's just as...
1 comment
Read more

Amster...dam(n), that was fun.

I have recently found myself double checking my memories- making sure things really happened, that I actually did the things I think I did, and saw the things I swear I saw, because with all this adventure going on in my life nothing seems real any more; like it's one big dream that I don't want to wake up from. It's a good thing I always carry my Nikon around with me to back up my illusive memories- for proof that my life is actually as exciting as my thoughts tend to illustrate. For the past two days, I found myself in Amsterdam . The best part is, I was able to explore the fascinating place with my friends who flew in from Rome, Florence and London. It was such a glorious feeling to have Katie in my arms, to chow down with Lindsay and Maria, and to do stupid things with Mallory and Heidi- all while being in a foreign (seriously, so foreign) land. Before I landed in the city of canals, I knew very little about it. I suppose research would have been a standard idea, bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thank you, Dad.

Although there are millions of men and women who deserve endless amounts of praise and thanks for all that they have done for our country, there is one special guy I'd like to thank especially. My dad. It's been years since the man has seen combat, or even been in the cock-pit of his most prized Huey Helicopter, but that hasn't stopped him from sharing his memories with me. Ironically the idiot joined the Marine Corps on a dare by his college roommates, but that dare turned into something much more than a whim.  After more than a decade spent serving our country, my father left the Corps as a Major, and would be one of the highest ranked Marines today if it weren't for me. My dad gave up his career in the military so I wouldn't have to move from place to place, fighting to fit in and becoming detached from society. My dad gave up so much to simply be my dad, and that's something I will never be able to express my complete gratitude for.  My dad i...
2 comments
Read more