Leaving Logan!
More to come, except I'm too busy being in denial that I am actually in Italy and having the best time at the same time.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
POCKETFUL OF ITALIAN SUNSHINE
Okay so I'm sitting in my hotel check in spot typing this out as quick as possible since I bought a half hour of internet since no free wi-fi and im not at my apartment yet so a few of us Stonehill people are viciously alerting the world (more like family) that we are alive. A little taste of how my travels have went..
Highlights:
-Sat in traffic for an hour and a half getting to Logan, way to leave a great last impression Massachusetts
-After finally checking in, who runs into us going to... wait for it.... BATHROOM? Oh of course Melissa Beaumont (aka Trisha aka Trish for short)
-Got on plane to Zurich and asked a guy to switch seats with me so that Alex Bonanno and I could enjoy our 6 hour flight together, except the guy had literally just switched so a couple could sit together, but he still switched and he got some serious good karma points in life
-Dealt with first sassy (rude) middle aged woman in an airport
-Landed in Switzerland and the airplane started playing Pocketful of Sunshine, needless to say Natasha Bedingfield will not only forever be associated with Easy A, but now Switzerland. whattup
-Switching over to our flight to Florence, and who gets the first feel up in an airport? Lauren Engel that's who.
-Sat in what we assumed was the European version of Panera during our layover
-Quickest flight I've ever been on to Florence, ate a pretzel with butter on it. Swiss Air going hard.
-Throughout this entire trip Court and I have been struggling with our perspectives. Examples of persepective: Oh your partying in the courts/I'm gonna go clubbing in Europe. So you just stepped in geese poop?/I'm stepping on the cobblestones of Florence. You're seeing the Maine/I'm gonna see the Eiffel Tower. You're eating pastabilities for the 5000th time?/I'm gonna go try a legitimate international dish. Etc Etc. lists will continue
-ARRIVED IN ITALIA! And it's 90 degrees out. Suck it Hurricane Irene
-Had a legitimate Jersey Shore-esque airport moment with Courtney Beauregard, luggage fell on the curb. Not even 5 minutes into Italy and I'm already looking like a stupid American.
-And as I'm writing this post.... Lauren Engel flings into the door after trying to discover what the purpose of the bidet is.
-And now even from abroad, Courtney is yelling at me to stop biting my nails.
LET THESE THREE AND A HALF MONTHS NEVER END.
Highlights:
-Sat in traffic for an hour and a half getting to Logan, way to leave a great last impression Massachusetts
-After finally checking in, who runs into us going to... wait for it.... BATHROOM? Oh of course Melissa Beaumont (aka Trisha aka Trish for short)
-Got on plane to Zurich and asked a guy to switch seats with me so that Alex Bonanno and I could enjoy our 6 hour flight together, except the guy had literally just switched so a couple could sit together, but he still switched and he got some serious good karma points in life
-Dealt with first sassy (rude) middle aged woman in an airport
-Landed in Switzerland and the airplane started playing Pocketful of Sunshine, needless to say Natasha Bedingfield will not only forever be associated with Easy A, but now Switzerland. whattup
-Switching over to our flight to Florence, and who gets the first feel up in an airport? Lauren Engel that's who.
-Sat in what we assumed was the European version of Panera during our layover
-Quickest flight I've ever been on to Florence, ate a pretzel with butter on it. Swiss Air going hard.
-Throughout this entire trip Court and I have been struggling with our perspectives. Examples of persepective: Oh your partying in the courts/I'm gonna go clubbing in Europe. So you just stepped in geese poop?/I'm stepping on the cobblestones of Florence. You're seeing the Maine/I'm gonna see the Eiffel Tower. You're eating pastabilities for the 5000th time?/I'm gonna go try a legitimate international dish. Etc Etc. lists will continue
-ARRIVED IN ITALIA! And it's 90 degrees out. Suck it Hurricane Irene
-Had a legitimate Jersey Shore-esque airport moment with Courtney Beauregard, luggage fell on the curb. Not even 5 minutes into Italy and I'm already looking like a stupid American.
-And as I'm writing this post.... Lauren Engel flings into the door after trying to discover what the purpose of the bidet is.
-And now even from abroad, Courtney is yelling at me to stop biting my nails.
LET THESE THREE AND A HALF MONTHS NEVER END.
Monday, August 29, 2011
AMAZING GRACE
So I'm not a cryer, by ANY MEANS. I went the past 4 years without crying once until this summer during Orientation. I thought I could get through all of my Stonehill friend goodbyes without any forms of emotional waterfalls (Erin Kelly, Sarah Hall, and Jess Beliveau almost had me though). And then as I'm still packing this morning I get texts from a bunch of my O-Kids (Mentees aren't as fun to say) wishing me a goodbye. Congratulations to one of my PM partners Grace for successfully getting me to cry.
2 hours 'til the airport and I'm still not done packing... Working under pressure and I are sort of best friends.
2 hours 'til the airport and I'm still not done packing... Working under pressure and I are sort of best friends.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
LEAVE THE PIECES WHEN YOU GO
To say I have been struggling with coming to terms with going abroad is such an understatement. I have grown into my own this past year to an extent I never thought I could imagine. I can honestly say I truly know who I am and what I want out of life, but that does not mean I plan on becoming complacent. I plan on only continuing my growth and what better way to do it then forcing myself to study abroad... in a foreign country which I know roughly 5 words of the language.
Working in admissions at Stonehill literally all summer I do not think I said I was a junior until my last few campus tours, clinging to what little time I have at college saying I was still a rising junior. The past semester of my sophomore year felt as if it was 4 years of college in itself. I went through a tremendous transition of solidifying my true friendships from freshman year and picking up new friendships that I know are just as strong and long lasting. I grew so much because of my gained personal experiences.
Sparknote version: I finally stopped caring about how anyone felt about me being gay, I knew my close friends were there to stay, I had my first real crush, I finally got my personal goal of becoming a Peer Mentor at Stonehill, had my first taste of heartache, dealt with an enormous amount of crap, continued to up my GPA with a semester best of 3.88, fell in love with my admissions job and being a student ambassador, literally had (so far) the best ten days of my entire life at Orientation with the O-Team and Group 24, had my first relationship, might have even fell in love, and now I am heading to Italy single and with the toughest skin I have even felt. Within only 8 months I have become a strong, self-assured person that is finally ready to go abroad.
Now the second part of my last statement is only half true, as the one who's always keeping it real, I may be in a mindset to leave and be gone, but I am still unfinished packing the night prior and will no doubt be put through the unknown (something I despise with a passion) on a daily basis in Florence. I need this experience more and more every time I quit avoiding thinking about this experience. I have been in denial as I have still been living, working, and Peer Mentoring at Stonehill. I cannot avoid this any longer. It's happening.
Although I have three of my closest friends coming to Florence with me (Alex, Courtney, and Lengel) which will make this nothing but better, I am struggling with letting go of my life at Stonehill. I haven't left Stonehill since I moved into the Sem exactly two years ago, (with working at the Hill both summers). Having now just moved some of the class of '15 into the Sem (shout out to my hardcore 24 Sem Kids) I have been so nostalgic realizing how much I really have come into my own in at Stonehill, but I will inevitably leave Italy kicking and screaming because as much as Stonehill has been the best times of my life, I know I will look back way later in life dreaming I was back abroad.
I wish I could write about every single person that has changed my life for even knowing them and having them as a friend and how much I will miss them, but I'm a floater so that would take to damn long and I am FINALLY ready to leave it all behind. I am doing this for me, and only me. I will be selfless, selfish, and adventurous. I will see things I have never seen before. I will accomplish life goals.
I will do anything and everything for the story. I will ask myself if it is worth running across a where the wind blows circle, then say screw it and do it anyways.
Imma do me, now all of you do you while I'm gone.
Deuces America, Ciao Italia.
Working in admissions at Stonehill literally all summer I do not think I said I was a junior until my last few campus tours, clinging to what little time I have at college saying I was still a rising junior. The past semester of my sophomore year felt as if it was 4 years of college in itself. I went through a tremendous transition of solidifying my true friendships from freshman year and picking up new friendships that I know are just as strong and long lasting. I grew so much because of my gained personal experiences.
Sparknote version: I finally stopped caring about how anyone felt about me being gay, I knew my close friends were there to stay, I had my first real crush, I finally got my personal goal of becoming a Peer Mentor at Stonehill, had my first taste of heartache, dealt with an enormous amount of crap, continued to up my GPA with a semester best of 3.88, fell in love with my admissions job and being a student ambassador, literally had (so far) the best ten days of my entire life at Orientation with the O-Team and Group 24, had my first relationship, might have even fell in love, and now I am heading to Italy single and with the toughest skin I have even felt. Within only 8 months I have become a strong, self-assured person that is finally ready to go abroad.
Now the second part of my last statement is only half true, as the one who's always keeping it real, I may be in a mindset to leave and be gone, but I am still unfinished packing the night prior and will no doubt be put through the unknown (something I despise with a passion) on a daily basis in Florence. I need this experience more and more every time I quit avoiding thinking about this experience. I have been in denial as I have still been living, working, and Peer Mentoring at Stonehill. I cannot avoid this any longer. It's happening.
Although I have three of my closest friends coming to Florence with me (Alex, Courtney, and Lengel) which will make this nothing but better, I am struggling with letting go of my life at Stonehill. I haven't left Stonehill since I moved into the Sem exactly two years ago, (with working at the Hill both summers). Having now just moved some of the class of '15 into the Sem (shout out to my hardcore 24 Sem Kids) I have been so nostalgic realizing how much I really have come into my own in at Stonehill, but I will inevitably leave Italy kicking and screaming because as much as Stonehill has been the best times of my life, I know I will look back way later in life dreaming I was back abroad.
I wish I could write about every single person that has changed my life for even knowing them and having them as a friend and how much I will miss them, but I'm a floater so that would take to damn long and I am FINALLY ready to leave it all behind. I am doing this for me, and only me. I will be selfless, selfish, and adventurous. I will see things I have never seen before. I will accomplish life goals.
I will do anything and everything for the story. I will ask myself if it is worth running across a where the wind blows circle, then say screw it and do it anyways.
Imma do me, now all of you do you while I'm gone.
Deuces America, Ciao Italia.
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