Step One

Here’s a very late post that was meant for right after PDT!

I’m currently a few thousand miles up in the air, somewhere between San Francisco and Houston, and I can’t seem to settle on any one emotion. I’m excited, I’m nervous, I’m sad, I’m happy, and I’m absolutely terrified. I’m sad to leave all my friends and family in Portland, as well as all the amazing people I’ve met in the past week in the Redwoods and Stanford for Pre-Departure Training, many of whom are flying off to India, Senegal, or Brazil. Other than feeling sad, I feel like I’m waiting in line for a rollercoaster. I’m nervous and absolutely terrified of what’s to come, and at some point on the ride I’ll probably think “what am I doing here oh no this may have been a huge mistake” but I wouldn’t get out of line for anything. I’ve met incredible people in this line (this metaphor is falling apart) and I can’t wait to share the next eight months with them. I’m so excited to meet my host families, to really learn Spanish, to find my way around a new city and hopefully, to learn a little bit about myself in the process.
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