One Week

One week. One week is all the time I have left before I am packed and on a flight headed for London, the first stop of many. Am I ready? No way, Jose! I haven't even begun to put a packing list together, let alone think about the many other things that need to be done, like calling the bank, making copies of important documents, and looking at the weather. There are so many things that need to be done by the end of next week.  But, I know they will get done sooner or later.

I first began my study abroad journey on February 29th, 2012. I received an email from Peace earlier that week pushing the study abroad application deadline back to leap day. Prior to this email, I'd had no idea applications were due so soon. Dale (my roommate) and I decided we would apply for the program. We both individually decided which program would best fit our majors, and just happened to choose the same one in Barcelona, Spain! We turned our applications in on the 29th and expected to hear back within the next few weeks. Those few weeks turned into months and at that point we decided that our chances of being approved were slim. On May 9th, as I helped Dale move out of her dorm room, I received word that we both had been accepted and were the only two from Peace to study abroad during the 2012-2013 school year. I then had to apply to the AIFS (American Institute for Foreign Study) Barcelona program which wasn't an arduous process like that of Peace, but it still required a lot of paperwork. Once the AIFS application was completed, it took them about a week to respond with my acceptance. They were definitely much easier to deal with than Peace. After receiving my acceptance from the school in Barcelona, Dad and I took a trip to DC to apply for my student Visa. Let me just say, the Spanish consulate is only slightly intimidating, but once that paperwork was in, I was free (if only for a few weeks). My Visa came a few weeks later and I'm sure I got more paperwork in the mail after that, but it obviously wasn't of much importance. Last week I received my final packet of information from AIFS and everything finally became real. I finally had my ticket information in my hands; I now knew who the other thirty or so students were by name.

So, in one week I will be meeting my fellow AIFS classmates and I will be in London, I know this much. I don't know how I will feel or what I will be doing once I arrive. There are so many uncertainties, but in one week, only one, very short week, my Spanish adventures will begin. This will be a life changing experience! I look forward to the bumps in the road, as stressful and nerve-racking as they may be, they will be a growing process and I will learn so much from this experience. 

Stay tuned for more on my adventures!

xoxo

Kelcey