Packing sucks.
Let me say it again: packing sucks.
The above photo is everything I will own for the next fifteen months. It’s actually really freeing to kind of go against capitalism and to really condense all of my life’s possessions into a suitcase and a backpack, but at the same time it’s scary. What if I’m going to a conference and spill Nutella on my one nice jacket? Well, we’ll see.
I left McDaniel today knowing I won’t be back for fifteen months, and it was a truly bittersweet moment. I’m comfortable at McDaniel, and I know how to succeed. Now I’m broaching the grand unknown. So where am I going from here?
This summer, I’ll be working in Zion National Park in Utah. I’ve never been to Utah before, and I’ve barely seen Nevada. Zion is a small park with a lot of year-round employees, so it’ll be a much different experience than my last two summers in Yellowstone, but I’m excited. I’ll be exTREMEly busy though, as I’m also juggling a remote internship with a literary agency in New York City.
From there, I’ll be booking a flight to Morocco, where I’ll be studying abroad in the fall. I know no Arabic. I know nobody in Morocco. I know nobody else who’ll be participating in my program. So one could say I’m diving in head-first.
In the spring, I’ll be either studying in the United Arab Emirates in Dubai or in Hungary in Budapest. I haven’t decided yet, and might not until late October, but either way, it’ll be an experience.
The hardest part about the last two weeks, however, wasn’t packing, but rather, watching as my friends left. The juniors will have graduated by the time I’m back, so I was really farewelling half of the school for what might be forever. But que sera sera–what will be will be. I know that they’re all going to go far and be successful in whichever field they choose.
I’m ready for what’s next.
Leave a Reply