Hello Letters to America readers! I am writing to you from a brightly lit, corner seat in the JFK International Airport in New York City. In a few hours, I will board a plane to Dublin, Ireland and begin my study abroad journey.
This is my first blog ~ever~, so bear with me. I write infrequently in a diary, so I do have some practice at this type of thing. I arrived about a half of an hour ago from the airport in Charleston, South Carolina, where I currently live with my family. It is ironically perfect timing for me to leave the States – specifically, the south. Hurricane Irma is rumbling its way up to Florida and will eventually hit many southern states, including the Carolinas. I shared the airport with many escapees. I am glad to not be ‘escaping from’, but rather, ‘going to’. I’ve looked forward to this date and imagined my time in Maynooth for over a year.
I am usually a pretty calm person. My friends like to say “chill”. For the past few weeks, even months, people have asked me if I’m excited to study abroad, or nervous, or any other emotion one might feel in this situation. During that time I did feel excited and grateful – in a sort of peaceful, contented way. It still hasn’t hit me, sitting in this semi-comfortable/mostly-hard chair with all sorts of other travelers. Yet, before leaving, I had lunch with my parents and the realness started to creep in – sort of a giddy excitement, along with “oh my gosh what am I doing” and “wait what am I supposed to do when I need to convert money” and “I really hope the plane won’t crash into the ocean on the way there” types of thoughts. Still, I’m so ready to experience something different from the United States. The people, the culture, the environment, the weather. My blood isn’t ready for the move to the North, but my heart is. Even with the hype of the experience, I am nervous – yet confident – about being alone in a foreign country. I know I can figure everything out, but it’s hard to plan when I don’t know exactly what to expect. For instance, my first act of independence will be to convert my money to Euros and then find a shuttle that will take me to Maynooth. I can do it, I just don’t know how it works over there. Also, it doesn’t help when I know I’ll be lugging around two very large and very heavy suitcases. Needless to say, I DEFINITELY over-packed. This is what I was looking for, however. To do things on my own, to be uncomfortable, and to go with the flow and problem solve.
Big events never hit me until they are about to happen. Being nervous for my swimming event at the state meet didn’t ensue until I was stretching at the blocks; feeling apprehensive never occurred to me until I was getting on the roller coaster. The same is going on now: I get instances of excitement and nervousness, but overall, I’m pretty calm and ready to get the show on the road. The one time that I did start to get emotional (which always happens) is when I said goodbye to my parents at the security gate in Charleston. I hugged/kissed them twice and told them to be safe in the hurricane (Dad has been playing it down a lot, claiming the news is “embellishing”). Leaving them made the trip more real for me. The rest of my feelings will likely flood in when we start our descent to the Dublin Airport.
I feel like I should also mention that it’s my birthday today! It’s been a bit overshadowed by my departure from the country, but that in itself is a wonderful birthday present. Thanks for reading! I’m looking forward to all the adventures to come.