This has been in the works for a long time. Since summer '04 when I spent three weeks in the UK, I've always wanted to go back for a longer period of time. When I graduated high school, I didn't feel prepared to take on the world by myself and college was a perfect option. But traveling was always in the back of my mind.
Although I enjoyed the atmosphere at university, I was burnt out on school. I'd spent nearly all of the past twenty years of my life studying and learning, going to class and doing homework. It was time for a change. This previous semester I took only seven hours of classes, hoping that maybe the light schedule might be just what I need to get back into the swing of things. It didn't work.
I suppose what really set me off was a conversation with an old friend, Ron. I had spent one Saturday morning doing some yard work for him and we came upon the topic of things that I want to do during my lifetime...and things that he had wanted to do. Although he had had a great lifetime, I distinctly remember the look of sadness on his face when he was telling me of the places he wished he would've went, the things he wished he would've done. It was at that point when I decided I did not want that sadness in my life. I was inspired. After that chat, I ended up spending my time (when not doing classwork or working) dreaming up and laying out the groundwork for an extended world tour.
As the semester drew on, I had several friends question my motives in school. They noted changes in my behavior toward and conversations about school. Strangely enough, I became more aware of these things myself. I had come to the realization that this desire to travel was not going to remain just a dream, as it does for too many. I was going to make this a reality. By the time of that final epiphany, there were only a few short weeks of the spring '09 semester left. I had expended enough time and effort into laying out my plan that I felt it was time to take the first steps to make it happen. The first thing I needed was some advice, which I sought through Dr. Pat Bosco, the Dean of Student Life at KSU.
The conversations between he and I are deserving of their own post, suffice to say that they went well and he provided me a lot of direction. On Friday, May 15th, I spent some time (following the reccomendation of Dr. Bosco) with one of the counselors at K-State, Quentin. By the end of my conversation with Quentin, I had no reservations.
This was it.
