In the year 2016, I will be physically home in Mesa, Arizona for a grand total of about two weeks. While growing up and becoming more independent is a process nearly all children endure, it is nonetheless a rather odd epiphany to realize that the place you have called “home” all your life is now a place only occasionally visited on holidays or vacation.
This is a question that comes up frequently. Are my friends and family at home sleeping or awake? When will I get used to subtracting 6 or 7 hours from the local time? From adjusting to a new time zone, to losing my luggage, my abroad adventure has officially begun.
Hi! My name is Emma Shaughnessy, and I’m from Washington, DC. I’m a junior at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, where I’m a psychology and French double major. In my free time, I love to sing, play guitar and piano, and write songs. I am also passionate about writing and photography. As of now, my future career goals are to go to graduate school, eventually get a doctoral degree in a relevant area of psychology, and become a therapist.
As a way to celebrate completing our first week in Siena, us students decided to go on a day trip to Cinque Terre, and it was possibly the best decision we could have made. For those of you who don't know, Cinque Terre is five small, ancient cities on the coast of Tuscany. Even though the cities are highly populated by tourists, the colorful buildings, turquoise water, incredible pesto pasta, and overall friendly ambiance make Cinque Terre the ideal weekend getaway.
I've officially arrived in Spain and despite all my nerves and fears of being unprepared, I truly feel ready to take on the semester!
It just hit me. I will be leaving my home for 4 months to go to a completely unfamiliar environment with less practice of the language than I would have liked and very few classmates to keep me company. And tomorrow is my last day at home.
Considering I'll be living in England for the next 4 months, I made it my mission this summer to appreciate my own city, Washington D.C., as much as possible before my departure across the pond.