One Year Later

Over one year ago I did something crazy. I told all of my friends and family I was going to Europe for the summer. Now...I might add that around that time I had not submitted an application to the Study Abroad Office at KU, I had about $10.00 overdrawn in my bank account, no savings account, was in deep debt with Sallie Mae and didn't even have a passport.

But people always tell me ....that I am the type of person that whatever I set my mind to 9 times out 10 I'm going to accomplish it. I had no plan how I was going to get to Europe or even if I would be accepted into a program or how in the world I was going to afford it but I told myself that this was something I wanted to do....so I made it happen.

The process was not easy, honestly I had all odds were against me and I wanted to give up on my dream plenty of times. By March 2012 when I hadn't heard back from the Office of Study Abroad  I had already started to apply for internships in my hometown because I needed a back up plan for my summer since things were looking ify.

The next day I got my passport in the mail and ended up deleting all the internship applications  I had submitted for summer employment the day before. Just seeing that passport made me remember that regardless if I had gotten accepted into a program or not I was going to Europe even if it meant I had to swim there.

Long story short by June 2012 I was heading to Dublin,Ireland where I didn't know it yet but my life was about to drastically change.

Since coming back home I can truly say that I am a changed woman and I will never be the same,my outlook on life will never be the same, the way I think will never be the same.

If your thinking about traveling the world, or moving to another state,or getting your degree,or whatever it may be...do it!

Life is too short to keep putting things off. I knew from the moment I stepped on University soil that I wanted to travel to another country....but for so long I doubted that it would ever happen. I use to use the excuse that I would graduate late if I did or that since I didn't come from a wealthy family so I couldn't afford to go abroad or maybe I would go abroad when I got older.

If I would of kept that mindset I would of never went to Ireland, swam in the Mediterranean,kayaked in the Irish Sea, ate a french baguette under the Eifle Tower, or fallen in love with over twenty amazing people that will always be my lifetime friends and travel buddies.... because we climbed hills together including the almighty culture shock, random nights on the metro, Ryanair and the lovely Irishmen!

What's going to be your story a year from now? 



 

Final Blog:(

Being fancy in front of the Eiffel Tower!

Chillin at the Eiffle Tower!

Farewell Gifts from my boss

I was here!

3 countries, 3 new languages...and 7 European cities have been conquered.

Barcelona

This past weekend I spent my time in Barcelona, Spain better known as one of the most exciting cities.
Within my two & a half day stay I decided this is where I want to live....one day.

The plane ride to Spain was quite interesting. I flew Ryainair (better known as the cheapest flight but you get what you pay for).

I met up with some other girls from KU that were flying to Barcelona and we sat in a row that had no window seat or leg room. We spent the two hour & a half plane ride watching stewardess walk up and down the aisle asking people if they wanted to buy cigarettes or lotto tickets and if we wanted to pay 5 euro for cheese and crackers. But finally we arrived.

We went our separate ways and I caught a taxi to meet up with the people I would be spending my trip with. They flew in a day before me. The taxi brought me to a strange alley and a building with lots of graffiti on the door. Don't worry family the inside looked somewhat normal.

Although we didn't do much tourist stuff in Spain....the beach was beautiful. Spain was beautiful. The people, the food, the musica, the weather, the culture, the beaches were beautiful.

It's also a lot cheaper than Dublin, which is a plus.

I honestly never wanted to leave but it would of cost $160 to change my flight so I decided it was best that I go.

However the clubs in Spain open at 2am and close at 6am...talk about the city that never sleeps. And the Spaniards wake up super early to start their day, we found this out from the loud yelling outside of our window at 6am when we arrived home.

I am so glad and blessed I got to experience such amazement and beauty.

Look at the photos page for proof.:)

Ryanair

Work Life!

It's official in no way am I ready to be an adult. My work hours are 10am to 4pm but with my public transportation commute it's more like 8am to 5pm. By the time I get home I'm  drained. And lucky me I only work Monday through Thursday. But enough complaining...

An average day for me consist of....

10am- Fix two cups of coffee  to start my day & start responding to emails

11am-  Start looking up casting calls for actors (Basically search for the actors a job)

 This can be annoying at times because directors are looking for exact people : tall woman, brunet, motorcycle training, blue eyes, speaks American English or has a perfect accent.

This is tough because Irish English & American English are not the same. You can stand face-to-face with an Irish men and have no idea what they just said!

12pm- Start writing articles, news releases ( Basically get the word out about our actors whether they went to a film festival or they are working on a new project).

1pm-Lunch!

2pm- Emails and start calling casting directors (only to end up getting their voice-mails every time).

This is probably the most intimidating part of my job because I basically have to sell these big name & small name casting directors our actors and of course they get these calls everyday.

3pm- Keep calling casting directors and working on social media (Facebook & Twitter) 

4pm- Homeward Bound

Which consist of spending the night researching new movies, commercials and other projects for the actors in the UK and Ireland !

So for all of those that were curious...that's what I do.

You've Got Mail

Family,

Thanks so much for the package! I have to keep a close eye on the ranch , news has gotten out and now people are talking about coming by to "visit" later!

I also had a successful 23rd birthday!

 Thanks again!:)

Why Did I Choose To Study Abroad?

Why did I choose to study abroad?

Great Question!

I'll try to sum it up for you...

I am going into my fifth year of college.
By now I have spent numerous hours studying equations, reading books that made no sense at the time, memorizing quotes, cutting up t-shirts for the football games, emailing professors that don't remember my name, writing essays, attending boring seminars, rambling about my major, volunteering and chatting about things that really don't matter.
And I needed a change.

I knew I needed something different to happen in my life because no longer was I excited to sit in journalism classes or interview random people. I was tired of the routine.

I never honestly thought about studying abroad. I mean sure it was somewhere deep in the back of my head but it was never something I thought would become a reality.  Mainly because once you look at the overall cost sheet in the study abroad packets and how much money financial aid is not willing to give you...reality starts to sets in.

But my friend brought the idea up and I guess I ran with it. Many of the people I associate with at school are from other countries so I guess I became curious.

I thought to myself what is the worse that could happen....the study abroad office says no.

So I can't say that I wanted this to look good on my resume, or I have always dreamed about going to another country. I honestly just had a random thought one day about wanting a change in my life and went with it.

So if I could give anyone advice reading this...it would be to stop over-thinking everything, don't worry so much and just do it...I mean what's the worst that could happen?

Missing Home

Its only Tuesday & I can already tell its going to be a long week.
It's been a little harder to wake up at 8:30 and get ready for work.
The commute to work has felt thirty minutes longer than usual.
I'm missing my favorite holiday...4th of July.
It's time to wash clothes and I just can't make myself spend 10 euro = $12.58 on one load.
& I just want to find a normal sandwich not one with jelly in the middle and handful of mayonnaise.
Its getting tough to ignore the fact that people don't say excuse me & there is no personal space.

I hate to complain but the study abroad program warned us this would happen and after speaking to the adviser this stage is perfectly normal.

Stage 2 - Withdrawal
The individual now has some more face to face experience of the culture and starts to find things different, strange and frustrating.
They:. Find the behaviour of the people unusual and unpredictable. Begin to dislike the culture and react negatively to the behaviour . Feel anxious. Start to withdraw. Begin to criticize, mock or show animosity to the people

A normal night in Lawrence!

So I decided to make an imaginary care package list of things I would want from home & things I miss.

1.My nephew & niece
2. Lamars Donuts
3. Little E (better known as my car)
3. Cheesecake
4. My very uncomfortable bed
5. US Dollar Conversion
6. A Courteous Waiter
7. Pandora
8. Hulu
9. VH1
10. Baby Jay (School Mascot)
11. A normal night in Lawrence
12. Pedestrian Right-of-Way  Signs
13. A hamburger
14. A DVD
15. Buffalo Wild Wings