I cannot believe that in a less than two weeks I will be on a plane traveling across the country. Studying abroad and traveling the world has always been something I wanted to do. However, with the pandemic hitting second semester of my freshman year of college, that dream was put off to the side. For a while international travel was put on hold due to the virus and even when it was allowed, things weren’t the same. I was also deterred from studying abroad because once operations returned to normal around my junior year, I did not want to miss being here at the Capstone since I already lost almost a year and a half of the normal college experience. Once I figured out that I was staying here for my Masters of Accountancy I knew I needed to take advantage of a summer study abroad program and lucky enough there was a 15 day program for accounting students.
I immediately sent the email detailing this program to my best friend, who also happens to be an accounting major, letting her know we had to do it. Over winter break we both talked to our parents and decided that this was the best time to go to Europe and a great way to vacation and get class credit. Since then it has been a whirl wind of booking flights, applying for scholarships, and getting all the necessities for international travel.
I have been lucky enough to travel internationally once before, however, I was 10 years old and do not remember much of the whole process and my entire family went with me. That being said, I am terrified to travel without my family. Luckily I will be with many people I know from my major and our awesome professor, Dr. Lopez, is leading the trip. However, I am still getting nervous the closer our departure date comes. I have been trying to lessen my nerves by making sure I have all the items I need: adapters, airtag, jackets, umbrella, toiletries, and so much more. I have also been doing research on the culture of the countries I am travelling to, Greece and France, so that when I arrive I am not too caught off guard and that I act in a respective manner.
I am excited to get to know all of the people studying with me in my program and to immerse myself in the culture of the countries I will be going to. I cannot wait to embark on this journey in less than 10 days, where I start in Athens, Greece and end my trip in Paris, France!
