Sending Ceremony

Let the countdown begin! Today was the sending ceremony for all those traveling abroad. Basically Monmouth University holds a ceremony to show the faculty and student body support for the students leaving for an international internship placement. We were presented with words of wisdom, encouragement and told stories of past traveling experiences. Then the 7 of us who are leaving were presented with journals to document our experiences. Much like this blog, I can’t imagine how the pages and entries will look like in the weeks to come.  I had a surge of feelings: blessed, excited, nervous, anxious. This is the first time I’m going to be doing any kind of major traveling and the reality of it all set in today. I feel like this experience is going to force me out of my comfort zone and open up so many doors. I’m not sure what to expect, and people keep telling me this is the experience of a lifetime. I’m not sure how to react to that because this is all so new to me. I’ve often questioned my decision to go  back to school, because I’ve had  to make a lot of sacrifices over the  past year or  so to make this happen.  I’ve often felt that my life has been on pause since going back to school. I see friends and family start exciting chapters in their own lives, while I’ve had to give up some independence and have had my nose stuck in a book or behind a laptop. This ceremony made me feel part of a community, our little social work family.