Going Abroad

Everything felt different. It didn’t feel like another state in the U.S., it felt like a completely different world. The culture and the way of life was exceptional. It wasn’t a vacation. To me it was an adventure, because I was exposed to the very island that my parents grew up on (Dominican Republic), because my imaginations were no longer inventions of my mind, and more a physical reality that I could see, feel, and smell. It’s like jumping into a lake, and coming back out. Someway somehow you’re not the same person who jumped in the beginning you’re somebody else. Going abroad to me is similar to jumping into that lake. For me its taking a chance, going to a place where I have no one who knows me, following certain rules that I’ve been oblivious to, learning about something that I might have felt uncomfortable knowing. I want to jump into Prague, live through it, learn about it, establish lifelong relationships, and come back out with a completely new different skin. Mommy isn’t going to be by my side explaining things to me, I’m going to be there on my own, finding things by myself, and hopefully when I return, I can take one long sigh and say “Wow, I did that”. I don’t want to hold back on this, after college the opportunities of me living in a different country won’t come by often. Therefore, I want to take the chance now that I have it. Studying Journalism in Prague, is going to be the experience of a lifetime. Not only am I going to be doing what I love, I’m going to be expanding myself, to a place not familiar to me. I am going to come back with an experience that can say a lot about the dedication I have for my career. Prague is going to teach me things about Journalism that I might never learn in New York. Most importantly, going abroad is going to be a challenge academically and personally that I am willing to take on. I’m not going to graduate college and say “I was going to Study Abroad, but it didn’t happen.” I like to make commitments to myself and follow through, and going abroad is a commitment, that I am definitely going through with.