The past few days have been a whirlwind of emotions: excitement, elation, confusion, despair…the list goes on. The year’s ending, my senior friends are graduating, the residential college i’ve lived in for two years is shutting down for renovation, and I still haven’t finished packing yet to go to a land I know little about. I think it’s safe to say that i’m a bit overwhelmed. Two months away from home, in unfamiliar lands that don’t speak my native tongue. Is this how my parents felt when they crossed the sea with their families, seeking opportunity?Abandoning all: their friends, their relatives, their homeland in the hopes of succeeding in a land promising prosperity? I can only imagine now how lost they had felt then, as I currently sit here pondering what shoes to put in my suitcase. My trip is two months; thiers was a lifetime. How did they do it? I question whether I am ready, if I can do this, even though I am a living testament to their resilience and relative success. Although, my situation is significantly different from what they had to go through, I think I can garner courage from their example. Even when things are unstable, we can pull through. I’m starting to get excited, packing while listening to Hide Me (Kirk Franklin), for what life’s got in store for me. If my parents did it, maybe so can I, and I can’t wait to see how i’ll grow in these next few months.