Valencia, Spain

When students discover that their university offers a study abroad opportunity, there tends to be little thought to it other than "When do I leave?" After all, who wouldn't jump at the oppoortunity to explore and experience things beyond their country's borders? To try new foods, to meet new people, and to interact with an entirely different culture are amazing activities on which any knowledge-hungry student should pounce.

Well, not me.

As someone who'd already gone abroad (albeit, as a young high schooler) and an out-of-state student who'd moved so frequently thanks to her family's military background, I wasn't as quick to jump on the first flight out of Virginia. A part of me was afraid to miss the opportunies that lie on Grounds - the other unique organizations, experiences within the city, intelligent men and women with whom to converse right next door. That is, until my third-year at the University: 2017-2018.

The events that occurred in Charlottesville in 2017, leading up to the University's bicentennial and including the subsequently tense atmosphere within the city, flipped a switch within me. The social and political situations, events, controveries, heated debates of that moment were crashing into each other, compounding in a way that turned every day into a headache. I found myself wary of the people around me, more cognizant of current events, more inclined to listened to people's stories and to dig into the greater histories of my city and nation. The tragedies of that year opened my eyes to the reality of this world; that there are glitches in my perception of everything, and that there is a lot more to learn and appreciate outside of what I'd already experienced. I needed to see what the rest of the world looked like. Or at the very least see it from a new perspective.

And, so, within a few days of the application deadline, I found myself signing up for the most eye-opening experiene of my lifetime.