While packing for this trip, I can’t help but think of how many eye-opening experiences I will encounter, and all of the adventures I will experience (along with how one suitcase seems to hold an impossibly small amount of essential items for a two month stay in a foreign country). Obviously, I have a great fear of missing out on exciting concerts and days with the friends I already know and love, but I realize that my stay in Berlin will not only foster an academic foray into new waters, but will also open new doors for meeting interesting people both from Northwestern and from around the world at Humboldt University. While I am obviously quite nervous for this trip, I doubt that I will ever feel homesick or discontent; quite the contrary in fact. I will revel in every second, minute and day during which I am in Berlin, and I will keep my eyes wide open and palms ready to touch any new surface and experience I shall encounter. Each day will bring along new discoveries and experiences, and while I’m sure that there will be days where I am exhausted, out of breath, or even completely lost in a foreign city halfway around the world, these experiences will remain in my heart for years and years, and will shape my adult experience. Living and traveling abroad is both an exciting and humbling experience; exciting in that it allows one to experience a new way of life and discover the idiosyncrasies that are commonplace throughout the world, and humbling in that, for most people at least, one’s weakest qualities and inclinations often are heightened while in unknown territory. Despite this, all people need to be humbled by travel and discovery; it makes us even more human and aware.
