The Rocket

Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Submitted Photo Jess Rupell stands at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland in March during her spring break. Rupell is studying abroad for the spring semester at the University of Limerick, Ireland. [Click to enlarge]

For as long as I can remember, I have been a very ambitious person, not scared to try new things and be adventurous. Maybe it's in my blood, or maybe it's the way I was raised, but I have always been a person who tries to get the most I can out of anything.

So after my older sister studied abroad in both Mexico and Spain and my parents saw all she gained from the experiences, it wasn't much of a surprise that at the end of last year, I decided that I also wanted to study abroad before I finished college.

At this time last year, all I knew was that, no matter what, I was going to make this study abroad trip happen in the spring 2008 semester. Quickly narrowing my options, and with the help of study abroad students from Ireland living on my floor last year, I eventually decided on Ireland and never looked back.

Then the fall rolled around and I had to force myself to complete the paperwork associated with studying abroad, arrange a flight and worry about the details of living in another country, all on top of my full schoolwork load and being the focus editor of The Rocket.

Going home for winter break proved to be just as stressful, as I worried about the million things I had to do before I left, such as suspending my cell phone for four months, agonizing about my bills, finding a summer internship and making sure I was all set to arrive in Ireland in January.

Yet pushing through all this proved to be rather easy, seeing as I had this amazing opportunity to look forward to in just a few short weeks. Then the week before I left, I unexpectedly had a mini-breakdown. I cried, I stressed, and I told my family and friends I was downright scared to do this. Fortunately, it passed and so, come Jan. 22, I drove to the airport to begin my four months abroad, calling 2008 my year of taking chances.

Continued...

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