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In “Plane” Sight: Reestablishing My Younger Self’s Dreams

The opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the views of Her Campus.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Millersville chapter.

If you’re anything like me, the past two years have been a roller coaster. It’s crazy to think that at this time two years ago we were finishing up our last days of normalcy, before that mid-March date (for me, it was the 13th) skewed our world in a way we weren’t expecting at all.

It’s been an endless cycle of ups and downs since then, but for the first time in a while, these past few weeks I’ve felt a little more optimistic. This last weekend I took a trip to the Midwest, where I felt better than I have these past few months. 

I’ve always had a travel bug, and this is the first time I navigated the airport and all of the traveling on my own. It opened my eyes to the opportunity that I can have, and I started thinking more about how I can form my future to allow myself the opportunity to travel. I used to think about traveling all the time when I was little, but recently I have really found myself longing to do so again.

I want to make a promise to myself that, if I’m safely and financially able to do so, I want to see all fifty states. I’m probably about a third of the way there, including Hawaii thanks to a band trip, which I consider to be one of the harder states to get too. I look forward to seeing as much as I can, because there are so many places to see and things to do.

I have such a yearning to see the sparkles of city lights and having that incredible feeling of anticipation the next morning that I’ll spend the whole day exploring a city that I don’t know and that doesn’t know me. 

I want to hear the stories of people who live in these places that aren’t home. I want to watch the sunset from a bench behind a building that few people know about with my favorite book in my hand. I want to see the Northern Lights and the wonders of the world.

For the first time, some of it seems possible. I think I’m finally settling into a major that will fit my career goals and allow me to achieve these dreams I have to explore the world. 

I hope that I can see these places on my bucket list, because I’ve been dreaming of traveling since I was little. I had one of those books showing the different places in the world, and I bookmarked the pages of places I wanted to see. I hope I can live up to my younger self’s dream, and honestly, even my present self’s dream. 

I am looking forward to my adventures, and I owe it to myself to try to see the world and learn as much about it as I possibly can. I want to document my journey in some way, so I am also looking forward to getting to be creative while traveling. I can’t wait to share my experiences with my loved ones.

HCXO,

Katie

Katherine McLaughlin

Millersville '23

Katie is currently completing her last semester at Millersville University, with a major in Digital Communication and Cultural Studies and a minor in Creative Writing and Publishing. Katie loves listening to music, traveling, riding rollercoasters, reading, hanging out with friends, family, and her dog, and writing for fun!