Besser spät als nie?

It hit me while sitting in VMA 330 when I was handed my final departure documents; I'm going to Germany. An overwhelming sense of excitement and nervousness came over me. What started as a small announcement of a possible trip by Dr. Wasser that I believed not possible has bloomed into reality. How do I prepare for this? What do I do with all of my stuff? How will I fund this experience? All of these questions and more became more haunting as the winter break passed.

To start, my current passport at the time was set to expire in early January, before my flight. Only realizing this three and a half weeks before departure time, I had to rush to have it renewed and thankfully got it back only two days before my flight. Next I had to find a roommate to take over my lease in my house. This proved to be the most daunting task of the trip, which I am still trying to finalize. Thankfully by the first of the year I had replacement roommate all set up. Next was trying to juggle both moving out of my house, having Christmas with my family, a 3 day trip to Dallas, and a 9 day vacation in Breckenridge with some of my best friends.

In the end I was able to just barely survive this hectic winter break and make my flight. The day before I managed to swing by REI to pick up just about everything I could possibly need in Germany; wool socks, base layers, 2 backpacks, ac adapters... you name it. Then began the clock to both start and finish packing in only 15 hours. This was perhaps why I ended up bringing 3 huge bags with just about my entire wardrobe. And lastly... after a huge ordeal at the airport with my bags being overweight, I was finally on the plane leaving the runway.

Going back to my motives behind my decision to come to Germany - In the back of my mind I had always wanted to study abroad and with my fascination of Germany... this was the perfect opportunity. This trip has already done so much for me just only after signing up. Being in a bad roommate situation, slacking in school, and becoming complacent in college, this decision to come to Germany has already set in progress a process of transformation in myself that I realized I needed. By taking myself completely out of my element and being able to see the world in a different light, I hope to be able to more fully develop the person that I am and who I see myself becoming. I hope that this "shock" to my system will be just what I need in college to set my priorities in line and better myself in ways I have yet to realize. Goals of the trip: Get in shape, get a 4.0, become more cultured in both a worldly sense and personal sense, and last but not least - have the time of my life!