Hello, friends!
After a long period of anticipation, I am happy to share with you about an exciting adventure coming soon: "A-Broad!" That's right, folks - it's finally time to announce my upcoming study abroad plans!
But before I do, let me set the stage a bit . . .
It's Friday, February 17th. The 2nd annual Global Reveal celebration is set to begin at 4 pm in the Ritchie Center. It's around 2 pm, and I am heading to South High School with a group to work on a project for our leadership program. We are all buzzing with excitement to find out where we will be going abroad in the fall. There had been rumors going around all week that you could go online to the portal and see what your program was set as, but I boldly declared that I would wait until the official reveal.
As we talked about the places we had applied to and what we were hoping for, I felt immense anxiety. (I'm kind of a worrier, so this is typical of me - don't worry). I had begun thinking earlier that morning that maybe I had made a mistake. I had made the University of Westminster program in London my top choice when I applied, but what if that was no longer what I really wanted deep down?? What if I got into what was my first choice but was now second to New Zealand?! I was getting pretty amped about it.
We finished up at South, though, and then we had an hour to pass before the reveal. Unfortunately, I had a paper due for leadership that night that I had barely started (oops), so I ended up "working on that" until 4 - in reality, I thought about it a little and ended up on Facebook or something.
Now it was 3:50 pm, and a group of my friends and I had decided to meet down in Nelson lobby so we could walk over together. After we finally assembled all of us, we quickly crossed campus to the Ritchie Center. My heart was beating really hard in my chest, which, I recognize sounds really silly. I think this was due to a) being partially out of shape b) being sick at the time and c) freaking the flip out over my fate !!
When we finally arrived at the Ritchie Center, it was honestly a mess. There was a massive clump of the majority of my class clogging the main area. Supposedly we were in lines to pick up our little envelope (!), but I kinda doubted that. It seemed like more of a free-for-all. I nervously ! chatted ! with some other friends as I made my way incredibly slowly up to the front. Then I got my envelope, thanked the overwhelmed staff, and hurried to find my friends.
THEN there was a whole ordeal of making our way into Magness Arena. I don't know why it was so hard for us as a collective to do that, but it was. I was still anxiously pawing at my envelope and squealing with nerves. Hopefully I looked put-together, idk.
So once everyone had meandered there way in - as if we didn't have very pressing matters to attend to - then we had to stand through a mini presentation celebrating some actually really cool photography from students who had studied abroad last year. I appreciated it and all, but at the same time, envelopes??!?
Finally, we all started counting backwards from 10. I looked at my friends, hopping from foot to foot and literally dying with anticipation. We got down to one, and I began to tear into my bright yellow envelope and . . .
The winner was Moonlight!
Haha just kidding.
What actually happened was I pulled out a sleek red luggage tag that opened to reveal "University of Otago - New Zealand."
I immediately screamed, jumping up and down, which was awkward because no one else screamed really? But I was elated, so whateva. I hugged my friends, found out where they were all going, told them I loved them and was so happy for them and all that jazz.
And then we all celebrated with international food!! I ate so much food and could not have been happier with life, you know? Like, the universe just knew and things worked out.
Afterwords, to celebrate, I finished my paper - yeah! I also went to Sonic approximately ten minutes before it closed with my best friend Bryce to eat an absolutely delicious peanut butter cookie dough master blast (no, this is not a paid advertisement).
So long story short, can catch this broad studying abroad in New Zealand this upcoming fall!!