Bonn, here I come!

In two short days, I will be boarding the plane to Frankfurt and saying goodbye to my family and all of the comforts of home! Despite how foreign (haha) the idea of moving to Europe for the summer is, I truly do not think I have ever been more excited about an experience before - the fact that for eight weeks I will be traveling throughout Europe with fellow TAMU students all the while learning about global healthcare and the history of medicine in Germany is just baffling to me. I feel so insanely grateful to have been given this opportunity; it is truly difficult to even begin to fully express that gratitude!

The decision to come on this trip was an easy one; since high school I have known that studying abroad was at the top of my list of priorities for college. Having the privilege to travel throughout Europe freely isn't too frequently an option in life. As the sometimes daunting and serious reality of adulthood draws nearer and nearer, it has become more obvious to me that it is best to take advantage of experiences like this when they are presented to you! In the wise words of mother, you must strike while the iron is hot. While I sure hope that there will be other instances in my life when I have the ability to travel around Europe, this program really seems to be a once in a lifetime opportunity and something I cannot wait to be a part of! When browsing through the various TAMU study abroad programs, this one stood out to me immediately. I somehow stumbled upon this blog (not sure how) in my research of the History of Medicine program and ended up spending an entire evening reading through a large amount of the blog posts written by former History of Medicine students. In reading about the growth that they experienced while abroad, the wonderful adventures that took place, and the learning and fun that they had I immediately knew that I had to be a part of it all! The combination of the location in Germany, the emphasis on medicine and healthcare, and the opportunity to live with a host family made it a quick decision as well. For the past five months, I have been thinking about this upcoming adventure every single day. It quite literally got me through spring semester and my not too wonderful course load. From reading Rick Steves' travel books to spending an inordinate amount of time on the internet researching each city I plan on visiting, I have poured so much time into hopefully becoming as prepared for this trip as one can be. The friendships I hope to make, the cultural literacy I hope to gain, and the memories I will make/have for the rest of my life are right around the corner and I could not be more thrilled! For the next two days, I will be soaking up time with my family, making final packing decisions (it is proving to be quite difficult to not bring my entire closet), triple checking that I have all of the necessary documents, and enjoying some of my favorite foods from home (specifically tex mex and other good Austin eats). Here is to a wonderful summer ahead and making so many new friends abroad! 

Bis bald in Deutschland!

-Catherine