Just one more day...

I am leaving tomorrow for Uganda to study economic development for a semester. As I was getting ready and thinking of what would be the best way to keep people updated on my trip was to create a blog. So here it is. I'm leaving tomorrow morning flying from Chicago to New York to Amsterdam and finally to Entebbe, Uganda. I think by the time all that is done it will be Sunday night Uganda time. So I thought I would use my first blog post to share some of my thoughts as I am getting ready to go.

Mostly I can’t seem to wrap my head around the idea that I’m actually leaving. Some people probably know that I have wanted to do this semester abroad since first semester freshman year of college. I went to the Study Abroad Fair picked up the brochure read it and knew this was what I wanted to do. I was originally going to apply to go fall semester junior year but when I was getting ready to start applying the program was already full. So I applied to go spring semester of junior year and was all set to go when an issue within my family made me decide to post-pone it till fall semester senior year. I say all this so that you might understand that now that I am one day away from leaving I still don’t think I am actually going. This makes packing tough.

I am gradually coming to grips with my feelings about this trip. Among the many feelings I have there’s regret for the things I’ll miss while I’m gone, excitement for the new experiences and discoveries I will have, and nerves and hopes of all kinds.

One of my friends from school asked me the other day if I was scared. And the truth is I am. I’m scared of all the big things and all the small things. Mostly I’m scared that it will be too hard. It’s missing out on the everyday things that I know I so often take for granted that I’m scared of. I’m also scared of being away from my friends and family. I have really great friends and it will hard to not be able to spend time with them. And I am nervous about being away from my family for so long for all kinds of reasons. Anyway I’m scared. So my friend then asked me why I was going if I was scared. All I could think of then and now after I’ve had a chance to reflect is that it’s something I have to do.

So off I go setting aside my fears in an attempt to embrace all the good and exciting parts of this trip knowing that in the end it will all be worth it. Hopefully the next time you here from me I’ll be having the time of my life in Uganda!!!