Obligatory Pre-Departure Excitement Rant

It's the night before I depart for a semester of a lifetime, and oddly enough I can't get to sleep (go figure.) I have a pink post-it note with all the last minute items I need to stow in my bag or carry on. I've decided the next time I'm asked what kind of superhero I would be in a "getting to know you game" that we play during orientation at my home university, I will say that my magical power would be the ability to tell if a suitcase is under the specified weight limit without weighing it on a scale. Original, practical, and definitely more creative than "invisible" or "flight." I digress.

Before I get too comfortable getting off topic and having a personal dialogue with myself, I'd like to introduce this blog and what exactly I'll be doing over the next semester.

I am fortunate enough to go to private, liberal arts university in North Carolina. Elon is everything I'd hoped and dreamed my college experience would be. One of the aspects that really drew me to this school was it's commitment to developing global citizens. This unending journey began during my freshman year when I took the required "Global Experience" class.  In this course I learned about epistemology, which deals with the creation and dissemination of knowledge--or rather why we know what we know. This class required me to read and write extensively as I explored other cultures and important worldy issues. To be quite honest, it made my brain hurt. It made me think...it made me question. It made me wonder how and why I believed certain things to be "right" or "wrong." It taught me that there is no one way to do/believe/see/interpret anything, and for that I am grateful.

During that same year I looked up to several older students and heard of their stories of traveling abroad. I attended the information fair, wide-eyed, featuring all the wonderful places I could go; I distinctively remember wondering where in the world (literally) I would end up. And as my time at Elon has progressed, I began to learn how vast the world was beyond the manicured lawns of my beautiful school (which we like to refer as "the bubble.") Day by day I realized that I am part of something so much greater than myself. So, in order to become the tolerant, understanding, worldy person I'd like to attempt to be...I decided I simply must see the world!

Several people have asked me "why Dublin?" As hard as I tried, I could never come up with an articulate or definite answer. I chose Dublin because for some reason I've always felt intrigued by it and drawn to it.  I think that has something to do with reading a trilogy of books while I was young by Marita Conlon-McKenna about children who survived the Potato Famine. Or perhaps I've heard stories of family and friends who have visited and had some Irish pride (mama's maiden name is Skelly) rising up in my veins. But it must not only be me...because after Hollywood produced such movies such as P.S. I Love You, Titanic and Leap Year, clearly others are intrigued by this magical place with a deliciously rich culture.

• The landscape is gorgeous--it's an island, for goodness sake, covered in lush green and surrounded by piercing blue--my two favorite colors. I think I've been swayed by watching Harry Potter movies so often...the scenery general scenery is pretty similiar, and they've even filmed in Ireland.
• There is so much history to learn about political, religious and cultural events and eras that have transformed this place to what it is today that I can hardly wait to learn. 
• The people are joyful--they appreciate good music, dance, conversation and drink, and quite frankly I believe I will fit in because I sure do love joy. They even have a word "craic" (pronounced "crack") that means "a good time." I may be getting a little ahead of myself when I say I hope a future entry will be all about "craic," but alas I can't yet begin to describe the entirety of the meaning, and honestly I hope I never well be able to. From what it sounds like, this is something that is felt and would be spoiled with a literal definition or translation.
• And naturally a criteria for my study abroad was castles, and stunning architecture. I need castles, and fast!
• Leprechauns. Rainbows. Fairies. Pots of Gold. All good things. I enjoy wishes and magic just as much (if not more) than the next person.
• Oh, and I must add that one of my very best friends in the whole entire world has red hair. Yes. Red like all the Weasley children from Harry Potter, and the little girl who is the mascot for Wendy's. You get the picture. I'm ready to be surrounded by gingers!
• Accents--very adorable accents. No further description necessary.

So for anyone asking me "why," I can't really say, but by golly I feel it, and that's all that matters right?  I am following my heart to Ireland, and I will continue following it as I soak up as much as I can.

Presently I am sitting in my bedroom at home in my beloved Virginia, and it makes me think of all the "last nights" I've had, or nights before monumental events. I realize that no matter where I go or what I do, my room always stays the same. Yes, decorations change, books accumulate and my interests have slowly differed throughout the years, but at the end of the day my room is constant. So now I think back to all the moments were I have been in my bed for "the last night"--the last night before graduations, leaving for college, and before my summer internship. I have changed to so much, but before leaving, I couldn't begin to imagine what was in store for me.

Four months from now I will lay in this exact bed, just as I always have. But per usual, I will have been shaped by new experiences that I can't even imagine right now. I predict that I will change more than I ever have before. My friends go through it, I've heard their stories, I've sensed their development..and I hope this blog will allow me to reflect on what I'm doing and serve as a way to record my adventures, feelings and gems of great moments.

My high school principal always says at graduation that "this time is terribly exciting and wonderfully frightening." Well, my friends, so is studying abroad (I've been told.) And while I'm on the tangent of quoting graduation-esqe things...let me say that Dr. Suess was right on the money with the book Oh! The Places You'll Go...it's all about the excitement that's in store, and that no matter what obstacles or bumps in the road you face, one incredible journey awaits.

So, Dublin...ready or not. Here I come!