Reporter’s Note: Seeking adventure in upcoming semester abroad

(ROCKWALL, TX — Aug. 5, 2016) I’ve never been much of an adventurer. I read about adventures all the time, quietly from the coziness of my room. But I’m not normally one to stray too far outside the lines of my comfort zone.

In a few weeks, that is going to change big time.

This fall semester I will be studying abroad in Europe. I’ll disembark on a 17-hour plane ride to Reykjavik, Iceland, then one week later I’ll fly to London, England where I will live for the next two months. At the end of my stay, I’ll spend a week or so visiting Scotland, Ireland, and Wales with the rest of my group, then I will have two weeks to travel anywhere in the world my heart desires (I have my eye set primarily on France, Germany and Italy).

There are numerous things I’ve been daydreaming about all summer in anticipation: hiking through glaciers and valleys in Iceland, riding in the London Eye, exploring the British Museum, tracking down the places that inspired some of my favorite authors, and of course unleashing my inner nerd at the Harry Potter studio tour, just to name a few. In the course of one plane ride, my life will flip from the mundane pattern of school or work to a constantly fluctuating environment with discoveries to be made around every corner. It’s thrilling, but in some ways it’s also frightening.

This semester will mark the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent away from my family, the first time I’ve ever left the country, and (perhaps most terrifying of all) the farthest I’ve ever been from readily accessible Tex-Mex food. I will be living, learning, and traveling largely with people I don’t know well. I will also be living on one suitcase worth of belongings for three months, which is a pretty drastic development considering how many piles of clothes I normally haul in my car with me to school. So if I was looking for an extra large dose of new experiences, you could say I’ve found it.

But as I approach the brink of my adventure, I feel at peace in spite of the change and the challenges. This is the opportunity and blessing of a lifetime, and I want to appreciate it as much as possible. As I begin my final year of college, I hope it will set a new precedent for the way I live my life.

Instead of settling for what feels safe, I want to become the kind of person who dares to pursue what lies outside my self-imposed boundaries. Having the courage to put forth extra effort or adapt to change might not always come easily, but I hope it will lead to a life well-lived.

I hope that soon, I can say I’m an adventurer too.

By Julie Anne White, Blue Ribbon News reporter.