My Pre-Departure Journey
44 days is all I have left before stepping foot onto the first plane out of 2 for my semester abroad in Viterbo Italy.

The first time I started looking into studying abroad was when I was a senior in high school. It quickly became one of my biggest college dreams. I started college in the fall of 2019. Then in the spring the unthinkable happened, the pandemic. I started to think that studying abroad would never be possible for me. A few years later I’m back at my hometown university as a student after transferring out of my original college. I started to look into study abroad as soon as I had heard that study abroad was back up and running, and Covid had settled down. It took a longer amount of time then I originally thought it would for me to find the right program for me. Thankfully, after 3 months of searching I finally found the USAC run Viterbo Italy program. I knew that it was perfect for me after looking at the available fall courses that I could register for.

I started the process of applying in March. Once I knew I was accepted the adventure of a lifetime began. I started going through the emotions of shock that my dream was finally coming true after multiple roadblocks, moments of anxiety like oh my gosh how is all this going to work, and moments of pure joy while starting to get ready for a life changing experience. I finally got my visa worked out and it’s been returned with the visa stamp in my passport. Now I’m in the stage of going through language, and cultural resources sent by both USAC and by my home university. I’m waiting on the host family selection, and waiting patiently, and slightly impatiently for the day where everything changes. The day where I go from my home airport to a whole different country. The emotions of pre-departure differ for everyone but one thing is for certain, the day that any student departs is the day where they step into a brand new chapter in life.