Less Than 36 Hours Until My First Out of Country Experience

Preparing for my first trip abroad has been exciting and a bit nerve racking. My faculty leads, Dr. Jennifer Hodbod and Dr. Scott Cloutier, have both been hugely beneficial. They encouraged and facilitated social exercises to get my peers and I opening up to each other and bonding prior to departure. As a result, we are all comfortable with each other and can begin our journey with relative ease. I know that beginning a trip, especially in a foreign country, with a group of strangers can be a great source of stress. I am grateful that the instructors took that into consideration and actively mitigated it.

The program will allow us to conduct research and learn a great deal about urban agriculture in the U.S., Denmark and the U.K. Being able to compare social norms and cultural ideals will not only benefit our research but it will also help us to better understand ourselves and how we fit into the world. Sustainability is a global necessity and it will require a global effort. Being able to effectively communicate within a global community is paramount to success. This will be a wonderful experience and I cannot wait for it to begin.

I have heard from numerous sources, faculty and previous students, that traveling on your own is strongly encouraged. They say it does not matter if you travel before your program or after it ends, as long as you do it. I agree. Opportunities are meant to be capitalized on and that is exactly what I am doing. I recently purchased the Eurail Global Pass for traveling through Europe upon completion of my program. It is a discount rail pass provided by the study abroad office. I will use it to travel through Germany, Switzerland and Italy. I may even travel to other countries. The pass will allow me to travel through 28 different European countries. My itinerary is very loose and I am a big fan of spontaneity. I am going to meet new people, learn new cultures, explore new lands and enjoy every minute of it.