The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship

I log onto the airline website and see the countdown, “3 days until your next flight with us.”  

 Up until then, I never really put the amount of time I had left in New York – and the U.S. for that matter – in perspective.  Since before I decided which college to attend, I knew I wanted to study abroad.  The question was where and when.  It turned out this spring was when and London was where.  Over the past 3 semesters at UConn I've met a bunch of great people, and the timing for going abroad was tricky to get right.  I decided last fall to go to London this spring semester - over a year in advance.  I realized there was a chance circumstances would change that might change my mind, but I think in the end I got it right.  There are 37 other people from UConn that I’m going with, many of which I’ve met and all of which I can’t wait to spend the 4 months in London, England with.  The worst question (kidding) a parent or anyone else can ask a college student is what they want to do with their lives after college.  

Whenever I feel like I’ve got a good handle on what I want to do with the rest of my life; something comes up that changes my mind.  I think studying abroad is a great opportunity to flesh-out my most recent idea; working for the State Department in their press office or as a diplomat.  Unfortunately, one doesn’t always get the opportunity to do exactly what they want to do.  Whether employers aren’t always hiring or you don’t have the right skills, that career isn’t accessible to you.  

 I think I’d love to work for the U.S. Department of State, but I’d also love to work for NBC News or ESPN or something like that in television.  I’ve always wanted to be an anchor, but that’s an example of a job that might not necessarily be the most accessible job on the market.  Working for ESPN, especially when they’re based in Bristol - something like 45 minutes from Storrs – is a feasible option.  We’ll just have to see what’s going to happen there.

I’m excited and nervous for what everyone is coining as an “adventure.”  I’ve never gone out of the United States (I’m not counting Canada or the cruise I took when I was in elementary school), so this is sure going to be an adventure - conservatively speaking of course.  I guess this blog is a way for me to keep people in the states in the loop with what’s going down weekly with me in the U.K.  I’m going to try and post a weekly update of my observations and experiences here so people back home will know I’m safe and having fun.

Stay tuned…