My Pre-departure Experience

Right now, I am sitting in the comfort of my bed in Berkeley, California. In 8 days I will be meeting GCY fellows and staff members at Stanford. In just 14 days I will be on a flight to Quito. It is definitely starting to feel more real now. To be honest, I have been feeling a range of emotions: excitement, fear, comfort, nervousness, and sadness about leaving my family and friends at home. Anticipation can be hard to manage, especially when a big change is in the future. But, what I find comfort in remembering is that you cannot really prepare fully for anything because you never can be sure what the next moment will be. I love focusing on the beauty of not knowing exactly what is to come, and riding life every moment at a time. This is essentially how I am approaching this bridge-year. I know I will face challenges and I know it will be hard at times, but these challenges are what shape us and make us able to learn. I’ve been learning to embrace challenges just as I would with the happy moments that come along. In a way, just this sentiment is mental preparation for this year-long excursion. Anyways… those are my thoughts at the moment. Not really sure how this blogging thing works yet, so bear with me. 🙂