The countdown has finally begun at six weeks until I leave my life in Pennsylvania for four incredible months in Seville, Spain! I have never traveled outside of the United States except for Niagara Falls, so this is the scariest and most exciting thing I have ever done.
A little bit about me….I’m a junior at Penn State double majoring in Marketing and Spanish and minoring in International Business. I’m also from Pittsburgh, PA…and yes, I love the Steelers and the Pens even though most of my friends are from Philly 🙂
As the fall semester is coming to a close at Penn State next week, I have a huge range of emotions. On the one hand, I am so sad to leave my friends at school, especially those who are seniors and will have graduated when I fly home in May. I’m scared to leave my family and friends and all of the comforts of home for such a long time, too. I am taking the biggest risk of my life so far. On the other hand, I am unbelievably excited to start a new life. I feel like I have lived my life in a bubble in Pennsylvania (though it has been great), and I want to see the world. I want to see everything because I think there is so much more to life. I need to leave my comfort zone and study abroad, which is something that I have wanted to do since I was only ten years old in the fifth grade.
For these next six weeks, I’m focusing on getting ready for my trip. Packing is probably the thing that is concerning me the most right now as well as figuring out credit cards while abroad. I’m also setting goals for myself with Spanish. I want to be completely immersed in the language to finally become fluent. I also want to become a part of the Spanish culture rather than just living in it. To do this, I will be living in a homestay with a family and speaking as little English as possible. I’m nervous that I won’t know anything about my family until I arrive, but I will know some students from home while I am there to help me through it, especially my long distance boyfriend. I just want to make sure that I take risks while I am there. I want to truly live in the moment because I have always been someone who is constantly planning the future. I’m not sure that I will ever have this opportunity again, so I want to make the most out of it that I possibly can, which includes traveling to other parts of Spain and other countries as well.
So, here marks the beginning of my GeoBlog and the beginning of a new life. Keep reading to see what happens during my four months in Europe with many pictures and videos to come!
The first picture is of Pittsburgh, PA (home) and the second is of Seville, Spain (my new home)
Location: State College, PA