With three years of college done, the final lap has begun.

As a junior in college it has definitely been the most difficult year. This was the first year I had to juggle work and going to class full time while still staying involved on campus. As a member of the SMU Service House, I was required to complete over 60 hours of community service and serve on a committee. Junior year was filled with lots of stress and tears but it did not stop me from enjoying the opportunities that came knocking on my door.

In January I found out I was accepted into the SMU Communications internship in London program and one could not believe my joy. After a short moment of celebration, suddenly the reality of financing such an expensive trip scared me. I did not know what I was going to do to raise that much money but I was going to do whatever it took to take this lifetime opportunity. I applied to many scholarships and prepared for months turning in important documents and asking as many questions as I could about being abroad. There was a lot of hair pulling and months later I was ready to embark on a new adventure.

If keeping up with one abroad program wasn’t enough, I decided to study abroad in the fall in Copenhagen, Denmark. I decided that now was the time to take advantage of these opportunities to travel. Despite the difficulty of keeping up with two programs and trying to come up with ways to finance them, it has been a great learning and growing experience. I was blessed to receive so much support not just in scholarships but also in love and motivation. Without the most important people in my life, I would not have been able to make it through these long months of stress.

The storm of preparing for both trips has passed and I can look forward to my summer and fall. I could have saved myself all the stress and money by not going abroad but that would not allow me to grow as an individual. I learned that if you are not taking a risk, you are not growing and you are just staying in your comfort zone. Every college student should take the chance and make a long term investment in their future through their college experiences.