Hello there!
In exactly two weeks, I will be on a plane headed out to Shanghai, China from Detroit, MI. Luckily, I got a direct flight; however, it will still be a long 13 hour flight! I have so much to get done before I leave. To do lists will be my best friend in times like these or else I would for sure forget something. I'm planning on taking one last trip to Marietta before I leave but just for a weekend.
I've already had so many mixed emotions about this trip. It's gonna be rough for me to be away from Marietta, especially since so many of my close friends are seniors, but this is MY life. Not trying to be selfish or anything, it's just that I can't always please everyone so I choose to make choices that benefit me in the future. I don't want anything to hold me back. This has been my dream for a few years now and it's so surreal that I'm about to start my journey abroad.
For those of you not aware, I have traveled abroad before, even to China. I've been to the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Belize, The Grand Cayman Islands, and China. I am very fortunate for all of these opportunities and in my opinion, when you have a chance to go abroad, DO IT! There is more to life; it is up to you to experience it. Luckily, my parents have allowed me to see that and I am very grateful for that.
A lot of you are probably wondering, "Why would you want to go to China?". Valid question. Well, in high school I took French (all the way to French 5) and for some reason, I never really loved the language. I don't know if it was too romantic for me or what so I tried Chinese. The main reason was that I knew I wanted to go into business and China's economy was thriving! Amazingly, I just loved the language and was able to pick up on it fairly easily. The next step was finding a college that offered Chinese and had all of my other requirements; I fell in love with Marietta, and luckily, they had Chinese! I decided to start in 101 since I had been taking high school level and just wanted to make sure I really learned everything. Though studying abroad is a requirement for my major, I never doubted that I would embark on an adventure like this. Last time I was in China, I went to Beijing and Zibo so I wanted to experience a new city. The program that I am doing is through Alliance and it is called International Business in China; they offer everything I could ever have imagined a study abroad program would offer.
Bare with me as I travel to the other side of the world. I will be doing semi-weekly updates on my iPad and will be sharing as many pictures as possible. I know my writing isn't perfect, and it's tough with a touch screen; however I will make it work! If you have any questions/comments/observations along the way, feel free to post them. I will try my best to reply in a timely manner.
Until next time...
