Allow Me To Introduce Myself

Hello “blog world”. I feel like Julie in the movie “Julie & Julia”, not that I’ve ever seen that chick-flick before (I lied. I watched it but it was with my mom, which makes it okay). This will hopefully serve as a place for me to share my experiences, vent or entertain my followers – all three of you.

Well, today is my last day in the states for quite some time. It is all really beginning to sink in now. I am filled with mixed emotions. I am excited, nervous, anxious, and curious. I’m just not real sure what to expect. I have been abroad before to England with my family but I have never traveled alone. It is going to be a challenge but one that I am looking forward to (minus the nearly 24 hours it will take me to get to Sydney).

I will be working at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. Specifically, in their U@MQ department. This is the university’s campus experience department, which includes the sport programs that the university has. From my understanding, I will be working with these sports programs but that is not definite. I still am not sure what my role will be within the organization but I am looking forward to getting started and making the most of my opportunity.

There are some people I would like to thank for making this all possible. The Purdue study abroad department has done a great job of preparing us for this journey and giving us all of the resources we need. This has been a relatively easy experience considering the magnitude of the distance I will be traveling. I also owe a thank you to Debbi Bearden and Sara White. These two wrote outstanding letters of recommendation for me – a very important step in the application process. Most of all, I need to thank my family. I am extremely blessed and fortunate. Both of my sisters studied abroad in England and introduced my parents to the idea. My sisters had a great time and when it came time for me to go to college my parents were encouraging me to study abroad. Not to mention, this is quite the financial commitment and my parents have been so gracious in helping me on this journey.

I leave tomorrow for an once-in-a-lifetime journey. I will keep everyone updated and be sure to take lots of pictures (a gene I received from my father). Thanks for taking the time to follow me and I look forward to sharing my experiences with everyone.