Study Abroad Redux

About this time three years ago, I was preparing to embark on the pinnacle of my Kalamazoo College education: study abroad. This junior year abroad was universally lauded, resulting in high expectations on my part. I anticipated a revelation-inducing set of experiences that would magically reveal my innermost desires for the future. I have no doubt that my months spent in France had a profound impact on my life; certain events irreversibly changed me and other events impacted my life in unforeseen ways*. However, when I returned, I felt that I did not glean even an inkling of direction from the complex changes I had endured.

This lack of direction did not bother me much. Since the abrupt closure of my high school and my subsequent early graduation, I have opted for a more laissez-faire approach to my life. College refined this approach by providing detailed steps that I had to accomplish. For me, a message on a Good Earth tea bag has explained it best, "Change starts when someone sees the next step."

Without any real direction and the 'comfort' of college behind me, I decided to go to graduate school. It gave me a next step. Because my program was less than rigorous, I decided to learn a new language. I picked Polish. No, I am not Polish; *I picked this language simply because I enjoyed my four day stay in Warsaw. Just as I thought that I'd be content sitting in class, listening to freshman talk about their Polish babcias, I walked through a study abroad fair and learned that I could study in Poland. Even though it will add a year and more loans onto my studies, I think it is worth the cost. I will get a second master's degree from the Cracow University of Economics (in international finance), study things I actually like (Post-Soviet Economic Development and European Union Policy), complete an internship with an international NGO, and learn a lot of Polish.

Now I am just trying to complete the rest of the little, pesky steps (applying for a visa, buying a plane ticket, finding a place to live, making more monies, and packing) and I am beginning to prepare for the change that is to come.