I'm going to be studying abroad in Spain this summer from May 8-July 3. I'll be starting in Alicante, Spain for the first four-week session and then heading to Madrid, Spain for the second session. I've been talking and thinking about it seriously for two years and I've finally gotten to the point where I can say I AM GOING! My plane tickets are all paid for, my down payment is on the books, my questions are answered, and I'm starting to get really excited.
Yes
there have been times when I've been really nervous and scared.
(one of those times is right now as I write this. Is this actually happening?)
Yes
there have been times where I've felt like individually pulling my eyebrows out of my head would be easier than dealing with an international center that sometimes doesn't seem to know their own system.
Yes
there have been times where I've seriously considered giving up on my dream that I've been saving for for years.
But now, now I'm excited and I feel as though this whole experience will be the adventure of a lifetime.
They make it hard so that it's just that much more worth it in the end.
I've gotten through the past month-and-a-half of paperwork, planning and detail overload by telling myself that when I'm on that beach in Alicante it will all be worth it, and truthfully sometimes I didn't even believe it myself, but tonight I feel as though anything is possible.
I know it's silly to take fortune cookies seriously but the one I got at dinner the other evening says it all:
"A great pleasure in life is doing what others say you can't."
I've come to realize in the past semester that the greatest pleasure in life comes from challenging yourself to do something that YOU'VE said you couldn't. You may be scared, you may be nervous, and at times you may not think it's worth the trouble, but if you do it it will help you grow in ways that you never thought possible.
At least, that's what I'm hoping for.
Until next time,
Avery
