Time To Embrace Adventure
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Travelling is change. Everything about it is change. When you travel abroad, it’s as close as you can get to travelling to another planet (at least for now). New people, new language, new architecture, new culture, and new norms. It is so much change at once that you must be a brave person to try it. I am indeed calling myself brave; I have to, with how much my mom insists I am. As I am preparing to depart from Michigan to Madrid, I am sure I am full of confusing feelings, but it’s always been hard for me to read/understand them. I think a factor in this is that I do feel anxious and apprehensive, but deep down I am confident everything will work out; it’s usually the other way around. It’s confusing. It is at times like this where I recall the motto of the great Cornelius Robinson: “Keep Moving Forward.” Even before failing, continuing to advance and forcing yourself into these stretching situations is tough, but rewarding. Meet the Robinsons seems to follow me wherever I go. Maybe I’ll get a Spanish version and show my host family.
It’s so strange being so close to something I’ve worked towards for so long. I want to fall into a routine because I’ve been so long without one, yet I am so used to working so hard that I know it’ll be whiplash. To be perfectly honest, my home life was thrown into turmoil as I was planning this time abroad. I can’t get into details, but I seriously considered calling off this semester. So, yes. I am anxious, but I have a God who is watching over me. It’s funny how comforting that fact can be. I know that He could choose to let awful things happen, but truthfully, if He does, I still can take comfort that what’s happening was supposed to happen and He wanted it to happen. He has performed miracles in my life that are challenging for me to accept, and I am in no position to complain about my place in this world.
I know a lot of people have life-changing and worldview-defining times abroad, and to be perfectly honest, I kind of hope I don’t. Fortunately, what I hope doesn’t matter much as long as I keep moving forward. Stasis is the real enemy here. I know that, as an introvert, I could skate by. I could do the bare minimum and return without much to show for it. But that would suck. “Oh yeah! I went abroad to Spain in college! What did I do? Oh, well, I did my classes. Yeah, they were in English. Uh… Aprendo un poco de español…” Lame. No, I will keep myself moving, even if parts of me don’t feel like it. People talk about “parts” of them wanting different things, but to me, it feels like those parts are all wholly you. Somehow.
A big part of that was choosing homestay housing over residence halls or the like. I have no idea how it will go, but I feel confident that my host family, my housemate, and I will figure it out. After all, we will have to live with each other for many months! In thinking about possible ways to make myself clear, I wonder how useful translation apps will be, or if I should try my best to absorb and regurgitate as much as possible rather than relying on the computer. The answer, as it so often is, lies most likely in the middle. Enough to be taught new words and conjugations, but not to become reliant on the app.
My worries about academics lie solely with UC3M. It is because of its reputation as a very difficult STEM college. I have a friend who went to Spain and had to drop one of his UC3M classes due to the difficulty. Now, I am usually not afraid of switching up my schedule, but to have to drop a class here means that I have to give up on my Physics Minor. I keep telling myself that it was never part of the plan anyway, but it would be so cool. Also, I’d just like to pass my classes. I know there is some form of tutoring for the STEM classes, so I will rely on that. I am taking two classes at UC3M and 2 classes at IES Abroad. 2 Electrical Engineering classes, 1 Physics class, and 1 Spanish class, which I am desperately hoping will teach conjugation rules for tenses, which is where I am in my personal studies.
Leaving family is also hard, but frankly, I am happy about it. I have such deep connections with them since we have been through so much together, but I know that I will have to go off on my own sooner than my siblings want. This will help them become more self-confident in the prospect. I will still miss them immensely. Communication shouldn’t be too difficult with the modern internet. I predict that I’ll have to push myself to keep in contact with everyone at home; not just family, but friends and clubs as well (Sorry, Creative Writing Club! I’ll be back soon ;).
Now, I am on the first of two airplanes, travelling to the next several months of my life in a foreign country. There is still plenty to do and worry about, but there is no turning back now!
“Adventure is out there, and it’s time to embrace it” –Pajama Sam 11
–Nathan Koedyker
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