Pre-departure Expectations

01/06/2019

               In one week, I am going to board a plane to Germany, and I will not return for four months. Four months of not seeing my home, my family, my friends, my pets, or anything that is familiar or a regular part of my life. I am a little nervous, to say the least. The prospect of being away for so long is finally becoming real, and as the emotions set in, it is a mixture of apprehension and excitement. While four months is a long time to be gone, the prospect of traveling to Europe and spending that much time exploring new places, meeting new people, and growing through these new experiences is exciting. I do not expect to return unchanged by this experience; in fact, I would be disappointed if I did. This is going to be such a radically different experience from anything I have done before, so I hope and expect it to be a period of great personal growth and discovery.

               With all of these unknowns, I must confess that I do not have many expectations beyond my belief that this experience will be a flood of new experiences and growth. I look forward to experiencing everything Germany has to offer as well as traveling to other European countries. Academically, I look forward to this semester’s classes as well as the research opportunity provided by Enmodes. Because my research experience is limited, and I am not one of the engineering students, I admit that I am nervous about my utility to the project; however, I am very excited about the opportunity and plan on being as involved in the project and design process as possible. This semester may be the lightest course load I have taken (twelve hours as opposed to sixteen), but I hope this gives me the opportunity to put more time and energy into each class individually as well as the many opportunities that come with the study abroad experience. I expect to learn as much, if not more, outside of the classroom as I do in it while abroad.

               As I prepare to leave, I have been reflecting on why I chose to participate in this program. To be entirely honest, it was a very impulsive decision to apply for the program, and once I was accepted, I quickly had to evaluate if this was something I wanted to do. Studying abroad in Germany, living in Europe for four months – the program sounds like one of my childhood dreams. But the reality of being gone for a whole semester made me stop and question it for just a moment. As I evaluated going versus staying, I realized that this may very well be the only opportunity I ever get to do something like this. After undergrad, I plan to attend medical school. After medical school, I will have a residency and then begin working. As I thought about it, I realized that I would probably never be able to do something like this once I left Texas A&M, and it was absolutely an opportunity that I wanted to experience during my life. I realized that anything I missed while gone would be here when I got back, but this experience would not still be waiting for me if I did not do it. And so, I decided to go to Germany, leave College Station and Texas behind for a semester, and experience everything this study abroad offered.

Yes, I am nervous about this. But I have no regrets, and I cannot wait to board that plane in seven days and begin this once in a lifetime opportunity.