I'm Almost There! *Princess Tiana Voice*

January 5, 2020

I have spent this past week preparing for my departure from "the States" to St. Thomas tomorrow. I'm so excited to explore the new places that I will see and all of the new people that I will meet. I hope to make new friends and build connections that will last a life-time and be something that I yearn to share with my pre-existing and future family. Although, I know that things will go well, I am nervous about doing just that. What shakes me up the most is the fact that I will be flying by myself for the first time, but at least my destination is America's paradise so I kind of feel that I have nothing to worry about. Another concern that I have is that I've never been this far away from home for an extended amount of time, but I believe that this exchange will help me to become more independent and refine the decision making skills that I have acquired from my childhood experiences. I've made two lists of both my current personal and academic goals for my exchange, but I will be definitely be adding more as I go. I've also added to my life bucket list and included the ones that I would like to knock off of my list during my exchange.

Current Exchange Goals:

1. Get enough sleep and learn better ways to take care of myself. Develop a self-care routine.

2. Attend classes, even virtually.

3. Become more engaged and participate in class.

4. Try to find and complete a research opportunity.

5. Stop procrastinating.

6. Better manage my time.

7. Network. Network. Network.

8. Join at least one campus organization.

9. Keep up with my blog.

10. Keep passing grades in all of my courses.

Exchange Bucket List:

1. Travel to all 4 islands that are apart of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

2. Read a book about the U.S. Virgin Islands.

3. Watch the sunrise at least once from the beach.

4. Spend a day at the beach.

5. Go on a hike.

6. Talk a walk around the entire campus.

7. Visit Coral World.

8. Visit the Virgin Islands National Park.

9. Try at least one native meal.

10. Attend a festival that is special to the island.

I believe that this NSE experience will fit into my academic and career plan by exposing me to different cultures and a variety of beautiful people that I may encounter later in life. It will give me the opportunity to develop an appreciation for people and traditions outside of the ones that I already know. As a minority at a PWI, it's not often that I run into someone that may look like me daily, so I believe this will also give me the opportunity to be surrounded people of the same race and compare and contrast our different ways of life. St. Thomas, here I come!