Dreams Come True

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I am going to do e-mail updates or something like that while I’m abroad. So, I’ve decided to do a blog to make my life a little easier instead of rounding up everyone’s e-mail. I’m making no guarantees about when and how often I will update it, but I will do my best to keep this updated about my time in Australia. The single question I’m asked all the time is if I’m excited to study abroad in Australia. The answer is an absolute YES! I have always loved traveling and the new experiences, but this is even more exciting for me because I’m fulfilling a childhood dream. Not just to study abroad, or visit Australia, but to study abroad in Australia. I know it’s not the normal childhood dream, but it’s been one of mine for as long as I can remember. My parents both studied abroad and are still in contact with people from their time abroad, so I’ve always heard stories about it which made me want to study abroad. I’m not exactly sure when Australia became part of the dream, but I know for sure that ever since elementary school I’ve wanted to go to Australia, so that’s probably when it got incorporated into it.

While I am so excited for this journey, there are still some parts that I struggle to wrap my mind around. I leave in less than three weeks, which seems absolutely crazy. I’ve already said goodbye to my friends from school, and its hard to believe that I won’t see them until next January. Now I’m working as much as possible to store up some money in the bank in addition to trying to see people here in Boulder before I leave. One somewhat scary thing is the fact that I don’t get my living assignment until about a week before I leave. I also don’t know who I’ll be living with. I could be with anywhere from three to seven other people (yes, I could live with boys). All of the housing is apartment style, and I’m hoping to be fortunate enough to get a single room. I also won’t get my class schedule until I get to Australia, which, while is a little scary, is somewhat of a nice thing because I’m not too worried about it right now.

I have my plane ticket and my student visa for Australia. So now the only thing is time and packing, which should be interesting. I’m looking forward (I think) to learning how to live with only the basics. I leave on July 6th from Denver in the late afternoon. My overseas flight is from LA that night to Auckland, New Zealand arriving on the 8th. I then fly from Auckland to Sydney for IFSA Butler (the program I am traveling with) orientation before leaving for Perth. On my way back I’ll get to spend, as of right now, two weeks in Sydney and two weeks in New Zealand before returning to Denver on January 4th. If I am lucky enough to find people willing to travel with me, I might add a couple days in Fiji after New Zealand.