How I Got Here

It's only been about three months since I wrote my first blog post, but so much has changed. I went from submitting my applications and simply hoping that I would get accepted into CBYX or YES Abroad to winning both scholarships and getting my top country for YES. Now that I have officially chosen to go to Indonesia, it's crazy to think that I will be there in just four months. That might sound like a long time, but it's not. These past three months have absolutely flown by, and I'm sure that these next four will be no different.

I remember when I truly decided to study abroad. My decision wan't really triggered by a particular event, but it is something that I have wanted to do for a long time. I just wasn't sure that I would study abroad in high school. In fact, I didn't really think it was possible. I honestly never thought that my parents would let me move across the world for an entire year. Being the youngest girl in my family, my dad is understandably protective of me. At first, he was pretty much completely against the idea of me studying abroad. Despite his apparent opposition, I kept bringing it up last year, which was also happened to be the same year that I became friends with a pretty awesome YES student from Pakistan. Somehow all of my study abroad talk prompted my dad to allow me to apply for CBYX and YES (my mom was totally fine with it as well), and now my parents are letting me move to Indonesia for 11 months!

Here's an awesome map of my new home! 

The wait for my finalist notification was hard, but it was totally worth it. The three weeks between IPSE and notification day seemed to drag on, and I'm so glad that I got good news in the end.

I'm planning on writing my next post about advice for future YES Abroad and CBYX applicants, so look out for it in the next week or so. If anyone ever has any questions for me, please feel free to leave a comment!

Selamat tinggal!

P.S. I'm attempting to write a lot now because I want this momentum to carry on and hopefully make me write at least one or two posts a month while I'm in Indonesia!