GREECE I'M COMING FOR YOU!!

My studying abroad decision took a long time because I was unsure the whole time. I was excited but also very scared. I have always thought about traveling abroad but as an incoming transfer student, I did not think it was possible. Of course money was a huge factor into where I should travel because I basically live off of financial aid. Little did I know that I chose the most expensive abroad programs Athens, Greece! During fall of 2018, one of my roommates (Steph) brought home a study abroad booklet and told me that financial aid could be used to study abroad for any quarter. That got me really excited because I am a financial aid recipient, so I decided to check out the office and the study abroad website. I was blown away by the various places and courses available for a junior like myself. I noticed the Global Seminar Program for Greece had psychology courses and it was about drug and behavior. This was definitely a sign for me that I am destined to travel to GREECE! I plan on pursuing Pharmacy School in the future so this is a nice introduction to my field of interest. Also I had a mentor in Pre-Pharmacy Society (Colette) who did the program already and she loved it. Later on I found out that both the courses counted for my major (Global Health) and it would put me on track to be done with my major courses in the fall. This means I can take other electives and still be on track to graduate within two years as a transfer student (WIN! WIN SITUATION XD!) Greece definitely caught my attention right away because in High School I made a list of places I want to travel to and Greece was my number one. IDKK why I just saw some pictures of islands and thought it’ll be a nice background for my laptop, who knew I would actually be able to go lol. I have always wanted to visit the islands like Oia and Santorini to take basic pictures and site seeing. The ocean looks UNREAL. I really want to jump in the water to see it myself. Also I really wanted to visit the Parthenon temple and the Acropolis of Athens. I want to take cool pictures and submerge myself in this new environment and culture! There are so many things I want to do, but I don’t know if I’ll have time and money so I’ll leave it up to fate and my bank account. I definitely want to see as much as I can and be young and free! Now the next problem was who was going to pay for my trip. My suitemates teased me to pick up some side job and start a go fund me page so I kind of did both (HAHAHA). I got a job at school and started getting little donations. I definitely felt the love and support from my friends and family. This made me more eager to work harder and finish my application early. Yet, it was not quite enough so I had to apply to many scholarships. I knew right away that I need to stop procrastinating and get on this FREE MONEY! So I got to work and applied to as many as I could before the deadline which was like a couple days before. I was not expecting anything honestly because I am an awful writer and there’s a lot of deserving students. My dream to travel to Greece was slowly slipping away LYet where there is will there is hope (Viet Mom quote) and that’s exactly what happened. I started getting “Congratulations” emails for my scholarship that took me by surprised! I was in disbelief and was just overjoy that this dream of mine was no longer a dream but a reality. I was going to go to GREECE THIS SUMMER! WOOHOO! I am ecstatic to participate in this global seminar with many other students and I just can’t wait to be in Greece and get tan too! Stay tuned for more updates on my adventure in GREECE! #hoabroad#hofinallyinGREECE#athens#GREECESUMMER2018