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Countdown: T-minus 3 Weeks…

By Geoyia Nightengale, Public Health in Europe, 2013

Hi! My name is Geoyia Nightengale and I am a rising senior majoring in Anthropology with a biological concentration and a minor in Global Health Studies. In the fall, I will be going to Paris, France for the Public Health in Europe study abroad program. Although I am very excited to be spending my first time out of the country in France, it was a very scary decision for me to make. Since this is my first time out of the country, I was very nervous to go. This will be the longest period of time that I have been away from family, not to mention that I will be missing out on Thanksgiving and my birthday with them. At one moment I almost reconsidered not going anymore. It was just after I submitted my confirmation form and I realized that things were getting real. I was really about to leave and go somewhere where I did not know anyone and did not know the language or the culture, and I would be going during the last fall quarter of my Northwestern career.

Senior year is a period where people just want to spend time with friends and cherish their lasts of the undergraduate careers. How was I going to be able to deal with being away for four months without feeling homesick at every moment? After talking with some friends about how I was feeling and then speaking with people who have been abroad and who have done the Public Health in Europe program, I started to feel a lot better about my decision to go abroad. I realized that the things that I was worrying about were nothing compared to the experiences that I would gain, new relationships that I would form, and new opportunities that await me in the future. I have always wanted to travel the world and see new things and the Public Health in Europe program is providing me with that start.

Now with 3 weeks left before I board the plane on my way to Paris, things are beginning to set in and feel more real. I am running out of time to do everything that I want to do before I leave. Hang out with friends and family, visit restaurants I’ve been meaning to go to all summer, go to the fireworks show at Navy Pier, go fishing, and just lay in my bed and watch reruns of Breaking Bad. At the beginning of the summer, I thought I had all of this time to do everything that I wanted to do before I left, but where has summer gone? France is quickly approaching and although I am excited and have everything ready for me to go, I still just want a little more time left in the states.

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