In just under a week, I'll be heading back across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time in three years.  Currently I'm sitting on my couch watching Frozen with two of my best friends beside me.  Yes, I am a 24 year-old graduate student and I am not ashamed to admit I still enjoy Disney movies.  I have been taking a break to relax and enjoy time with friends and family after my first year in the HESA program at the University of South Carolina.  Mostly this has meant vegging on the couch binge watching certain crime solving television shows and playoff hockey games, but I've also managed a quick trip to Boston and New Hampshire to visit my older sisters. After a packed weekend of beer release parties, bbqs and drinks on the decks, I'm ready for Ireland and all of the amazing adventures I will have.  

You would think that with my trip quickly approaching I would be packing or making sure I have everything in order, but I am completely disorganized, yet eerily calm.  Perhaps it is because I have already gone through the process of living abroad for a short amount of time or perhaps it is still surreal to me.  This summer in Maynooth, Ireland, I'll be interning at a local university, getting a better understanding of the inner workings of an Irish university.

All of my previous trips to Europe have helped me grow as a person and have shaped my life in many ways.  My first trip to Europe was a class trip to Spain and Morocco as a senior in high school.  I fell in love with a boy, with a country and with who I became after the experience.  My eyes were opened to the world outside of my personal bubble and I became that much better for it.  

A love of travel and learning about new cultures was instilled in me and as a junior in college I returned to Seville, Spain for a full semester.  Living in a foreign country as a college student is a completely liberating time.  I was blessed to be able to visit eight other countries and numerous towns and cities in Southern Spain.  I met amazing people through my program and through my travels, became part of the community of Seville and even began to look like a local by the end of my four months' stay. (A Spanish couple asked me for directions and I was able to help them find their destination.  Now mind you this conversation was completely in Spanish!)  






I'm not sure what to expect out of my Irish summer, but that's the beauty of it...embracing the unexpected and taking a leap of faith every once and a while.  Along the way I'm sure I'll fall into some unexpected, amazing adventures with a few frustrating bouts of homesickness. (Which I'll make sure to tell y'all) Until then..

I love you a million red swedish fish.