On my way!

The traveling has commenced! A 9:10 am departure from my house and a 9:10 am arrival time in Ireland tomorrow makes for exactly 19 hours of traveling ahead. I am currently on the road to the Orlando International Airport to catch my 5:17 p.m. flight to New York where I will meet up with my fellow travelers and continue to Ireland.  Being the only Floridian of the group, and never having met any of the other students in person has me slightly anxious. Hopefully the sun and warm weather will follow me there, and they’ll appreciate my southern influence. In my typical fashion I completed packing my suitcase a little before 8:00 am this morning, was being coerced out the door by my mother at 9:00 am, and have double checked that I have my passport and debit card multiple times already.  I can’t pinpoint exactly what else is adding to the butterflies in my stomach, but I’m pretty sure they won’t completely settle until I’ve made it to Ireland.

I cannot wait to immerse myself in the Irish culture and learn from the people I meet and the experiences ahead. I chose to study abroad because I believe that you learn the most when you learn from people who are different than you.  Learning from people of different backgrounds and cultures allows you to broaden your knowledge and incorporate multiple perspectives into your own education. I hope this experience will give me a better understanding of the health care for people with disabilities on an international level. Through the organization I will be working with and the people I meet I know I will learn so much, and I know this experience will follow me to grad school and throughout my career as an occupational therapist.

My overall goal for of this trip is to take full advantage of the experience have been given.  This is an amazing opportunity to learn and do things that I might not ever have the chance to do again.  I want to engage myself in the Irish culture and become more than just a tourist during my time there.  I am overwhelmed with excitement about the opportunities to come in the next few weeks. Let the adventures begin….