An Idea is in the Works
All the windows reflected like mirrors from the pitch black outside. I plopped into(more like fell onto) my chair after a long and exhausting day. My head was too tired for complex thoughts, my legs numb from sprinting all afternoon. And what do I hear? "Tyler, come down here! I want to show you something!" Of course, I can never get a break, can I? Dad's probably just going to point at the dog as she sprawls out on the floor, I think to myself, slouching my way to the stairs.
Not this time, though. What my Dad called me down for was a newspaper article; the picture by the text was a girl about my age. Her hair was a little rustled by a slight breeze; she smiled into the camera, back turned to the sea, apparently in Italy. I barely grazed the first couple sentences before I knew why this deserved my time: this girl, for her whole junior year of high school, is studying abroad in Italy.
Italy, I thought. Italy. The whole junior year. Italy.
A gorgeous country engulfed by the Mediterranean Sea, rich with history and culture, is where she will be spending her junior year. She will be learning the language, speaking with new and different people, opening her eyes to the world while only in her junior year of high school.
I look up at my dad, and say more clearly than anything I have ever said: "I would do that in a heartbeat." If only a small bump-bump in my chest could transport me half-way across the globe. If only I could leave this place, these people, to a whole new experience which would mature me beyond my years. If only I could do what she's doing.
But, maybe I can.
The thought enveloped my head. If she's doing it, why can't I? I imagined myself in an article like that; I thought of coming back to my high school as a senior, everyone bombarding me with questions of my travels that I'd answer all day.
Gears in my brain kept churning and churning. I can't even comprehend what it would be like living in Italy. Yet, as I calmed down, I realized that I wouldn't be studying abroad in Italy.
I would live in France. Southern France, preferably (Mediterranean, anyone?). I already have a few years of French language education under my belt, though I know no amount of schooling could prepare me for the real environment.
And that brings us to my conclusion from that night: I want to spend at least a semester, or even a full academic year, with a host family in Southern France, doing what they do to learn as much as I can about France's people, culture, and language. To make that a reality, I need to find a program that my school can collaborate with so my credits can be transferred. I've already started looking at some. We need to save money to fund the trip. And, most importantly, I need to stay motivated in my research and studies.
This is real life, right? 'Cause I think I can make this happen.
