Before Takeoff...

And the countdown continues… Less than a month away, I will officially be in Alaska, and I could not be more excited! Before I head out, I wanted to come up with a bucket list and some personal goals (because who doesn’t love crossing things off a list, right?). One of my top priorities this semester is to make some friends and (hopefully) some professional connections. Since Covid hit right when I began college, it’s been ridiculously difficult to meet people, so I definitely want to work on it this semester. Plus, I’ll need some buddies to go on all the adventures I have planned! Another goal of mine is to try to do well academically (shooting for straight A's...wish me luck). I’ve always been pretty good about staying on top of my school work, but I really want to make it a point to procrastinate less and absorb as much information as possible. I've signed up for some unique classes (like "Northwest Coast Carving" and "Icy Fjords") and have an extensive bucket list, so I feel confident I'll be able to make the most out of my study away experience!

On that note, I want to talk about just how important this experience is to me and my future plans. Participating in NSE is more than just getting to study at a different school for a semester. As an environmental studies major at UofSC, I've been finding it difficult to maintain motivation in all those huge lecture-style classes. Exchanging to a smaller community will not only allow me a more hands-on approach to my education, but will also make it a LOT easier to form connections with my peers and professors. Not to mention the more exclusive class topics. I know I keep referring to my "Icy Fjords" class, but how cool is it to study something I can literally see from the classroom window?! Although I'm not 100% decided on my career after graduation, being in Juneau (right next to several national parks, a wildlife hotspot, and lots of protected forests) is also going to be incredibly helpful in that sense. Having all these opportunities right at my fingertips is exactly why I decided to apply to NSE (not to mention it's going to look GREAT on my resumé).

Other than making monumental progress towards my degree (in the coolest way possible), I am super excited about lots of other things. I’m really looking forward to the beautiful scenery and participating in more outdoorsy activities, especially since it’ll be completely different from what I could normally do at UofSC. I even signed up for a sea kayaking class just for fun! I am a little nervous to meet people in person though. I’ve been chatting with some of the students and they’re all super friendly so far, but I do tend to be *slightly* anti-social, so I hope it goes well when I arrive. And, of course, I am nervous to be so far away from home. I'll definitely miss my friends and family a lot, but I'm planning to check-in probably way more than they want me to.

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Alright, I know you're all just *dying* to see what's on my infamous bucket list. You can find it right here OR on the main page of my site under the "Featured Posts" section. Be sure to keep checking it, I'll be updating it as I cross things off my list! :)