The Decision to Study Abroad

No one actually believes I’m American.

I’m not being facetious here, really. It’s been some sort of running joke in my life: comments about how “European” I seem or the occasional “What country are you from?” from strangers, even though last time I checked this was San Diego, not Ellis Island circa 1901. Inquiries about my green card were much more understandable back home in El Dorado Hills, California. My parents, Marti and Tim, like to spend their time in Central American villages supplying medical care, performing surgeries, and handing out my every possession to Guatemalan kids when I’m not around. Marti also models her style after Esmeralda from The Hunchback of Notre Dame and has “Rock the Casbah” blasting from her Lexus at all times. So now that I think about it, yeah, it makes sense people assume I’m foreign.

Maybe it’s my family’s frequent traveling or the fact that countless relatives live abroad; either way, I’ve always had this drive to explore the world. Now I’m diving face-first by attending Madrid in the fall followed by London in the spring. Sure, it’s a little excessive that I won’t be returning to the States until May – but the way I see it, this is the only chance I’ve got. Who knows if I’ll get the opportunity to hop from country to country with a double-digit blood alcohol content again in my 20s. Not to mention I’ve heard the words “law school” about ten times this week and that’s ten times too many. I can’t say for certain if my future entails law school or grad school or eating ramen in a crummy apartment while wishing I had a job, but either way, the ‘real world’ probably doesn’t include as much free time.

So it’s now or never. Here’s to being adventurous (or crazy, you pick) and spending two back-to-back semesters in another continent. At the very least, it’ll serve as a nice boost to my GPA, since we all know the business school at USD isn’t exactly a breeze. I could use a crutch after last spring’s Calculus grade.