On Life, Students, and Tomorrow

 On Life

 Even though I'm young, I feel like I know a bit about life.  Life goes on like the unstoppable force that it is, never yielding to the trials of youth or the plights of a petty childhood.  You go through it slowly or quickly, depending on the enjoyability of the moment, but more often than not you'll end up wasting it.  I Hope I never waste it.

   Now, most people, even some scholars and writers and people of a high intelligence, will tell you that life is best spent with those you love and things that make you happy.  Some people, such as myself, disagree.  I believe that life is most fully utilized when spent bettering one's self.  How the heck does this tie in to a blog about exchange?  You got it, exchange makes your life better. It opens doors, sometimes teaches you a new language, connects you with great people who could be useful to your success, and will most likely result in a little hardship.  When you're abroad you are bound to miss someone or something or be frustrated with your new life. I think everyone should have to experience a little discomfort.  It'll make you someone who can empathize and rise above adversity.  And of course along the way you'll spend time being happy and loved too.

On Students

The kind of kid--yes, I admit, I am a kid--who is willing to tear themselves away from the comfort of their home for a whole year, apply to do so, and then live through ten months of what they've been assured will be difficult is the kind of kid who will go far in life.  Not to sound arrogant, because I've admired these students' courage for years now and only recently have thought of myself as one of them.  This is a reason why I'm very excited to meet more of my fellow AFSers.  They know what I'm going through, they think like I do, and they're willing to give up home for a year.  That's not your average lazy fat America teenager, now is it?

On Tomorrow

Tomorrow I attend an AFS pre-departure orientation.  Literally, tomorrow.   The exchange experience consists of a few orientations.  The first being a couple months before you leave your homeland, the next at your 'gateway' city the day before you all get on a plane and leave for ten months, a few while you're abroad to help you adjust and connect with other AFS students, and the last as soon as you get home to let you know the hard truth about how painful re-adjusting will be.  From what I've heard the orientations are supposed to be pretty fun.  Just the excitement of going is enough for me.  I'll post tomorrow to tell more about what went down.  However, there is a gigantic AFS rulebook that I'm supposed to bring...wonder what we'll be doing with that....

And now, just to get a little more deep and emotional, On Tomorrow Part II:

In my application to study abroad I wrote about how I think exchange will affect my future.  In general, I hope it'll make me a better person, like I discussed in Life, but I also look forward to it being the year I can look back on and get happy feelings about.  Like, 'oh, that was fun.  Spain is so cool.  I had awesome friends.  It got me into college.' type of reminiscing.  A primary motive was, indeed, college.  If I can continue taking classes a few years ahead of my grade and keep maintaining that 97 average I really would like to go to Georgetown University in D.C. The school is pretty high up there in terms of difficulty, and even with my good grades I need something to set me apart from the robot-scoring-SATers and American/real Royalty who go there.  Hopefully Georgetown will realize that the kind of student who willingly moves to another country is the kind of student who they want on their team.

 I understand that in the near future when I'm in Spain everything will be incredibly different.  I cherish the escape from the everyday monotony of high school.  But I'm also terrified of it.  While I am eager for the variation I'm scared of letting go of comfort.  My family won't be there to baby me and help the little child that they're obligated to view me as.  Nothing will be the routine life that I've come to expect.   I don't know what time I'll wake up in the morning, which effortless friends I'll have to be with at lunch, or even where I will sit to write this blog every week.  Even now as I'm nestled into the familiar cushions of my couch with my pet dog of twelve years cuddled up against my side, I'm gripped with a sudden fear--the fear of the unknown.  The random variables are the only things about exchange that threaten me, and I feel a sort of laziness when I think of having to change everything about my life.  But, as is the motto of exchange, I get over myself and think of how positively this experience--the great, the good, the fantastic, and the fear--will change my life for the better.