New beginnings always come with an explosion of emotions. No matter how prepared you feel or how excited you may be, taking that leap is both terrifying and breathtaking all together. We gravitate towards the comfort of familiarity, but still always have the urge to break free and experience something exotic and new.
It honestly didn’t hit me that I would be an ocean away from my family and friends for a whole semester until I was actually at O’Hare going through security with a small suitcase in one hand and a one-way ticket to a foreign place in the other.
Choosing to study in Italy had truly been an easy decision for me. Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been infatuated with love. I dreamed of finding a love that took my breath away. Now that I’m older and get WAY too emotionally attached to people, I decided to fall in love with a place instead. Ciao Florence Italy!
The thought of doing something new was never the hard part. There is an over joying amount of excitement in meeting new faces, finding new places to get your morning coffee, and seeing a different view of the sunset from what you are used to. The hard part is all the overthinking that happens in those blank spaces between all the excitement.
It’s simple things like the thought of my sister having a bad day and not being able hug her. It’s wondering what your friends are thinking about you back home or the feeling of guilt that hits you when you are missing things at home that mean a lot. Being an entire ocean away from the people you love is really hard to wrap your head around.
But you need to remind yourself that just because something is tough, doesn’t mean it isn’t worth it! The most challenging things in life are often the best things in life. I was scared to travel to a new country all by myself, but I knew that if I waited for someone to go with me, I would have never gone at all.
In the end, you should always turn the page. No matter how hard you think it is, always remember that there is always so much more to your story than the page you’re stuck on. Trust in the magic of new beginnings and chase after the dreams and people your heart longs for. You will always have something beautiful waiting ahead for you, but you’ll never know unless you pull the trigger.