Hello! My name is Jenna and I am a 20 year old junior at Northern Arizona university. I have spent the large majority of my life in AZ and I am absolutely in love with it. I am spending the upcoming semester in Europe at Leiden University. A really cool thing that NAU's ASNAU does is that it gives scholarships to people who will leave a record of their study abroad experiences for future students to read and decide if it is right for them. So in order to keep my scholarship I have to update this blog as often as I can!
My first trip out of the country was when I was 13 on a mission trip to Mexico (But a trip to Baja, Mexico kind of doesn't count as leaving the country even though it does... AZ people understand. It's really close and really easy and didn't even require a passport back then). When I was a freshman in college a professor of mine told me about this great trip to Thailand in which you could shadow surgeons and learn a lot about medicine there- and I remember calling my mom and asking if it was even possible for me to do that. Because traveling was just SO out of reach and SO hard then. Well, I got to go. And after that trip I realized that traveling is not hard and is so possible and should be done as much and as often as possible. The next Summer my boyfriend and I backpacked three countries in South America and basically winged the entire thing. And now I am going to Europe. You know how people say your mind changes and you get totally obsessed with certain things after you try it once? Like vegetables or tattoos or crossfit (blah blah blah)... well I can't vouch for the rest but taking international trips is just that. I have barely been anywhere but traveling is so attainable and so necessary.
I first applied to study abroad in July of 2016. How it works is that you are supposed to pick 10 schools you'd be happy going to, and if you get none of those 10 schools they place you sort of wherever they can. I only wrote two names down because I really only wanted my #1 pick but figured a backup would be a good idea. Plus, the more schools you name the less of a chance you have at your #1. I was fine going anywhere, and really kind of wanted to be placed somewhere random. But that leaves a lot to chance, so I put two down. University of Malta was #1 and Leiden University was #2. No surprises here, I was denied by #1 and accepted by #2- so off to South Holland I am going (and I am SO HAPPY it worked out that way). When I was finally placed and accepted and all the formalities were finished it was late October. I bought my ticket in December and am leaving in 4 days. I am really kind of indifferent currently, because this has been such an object of my imagination for so long it hasn't really hit me I am leaving yet.
So here is the past and present to this adventure, and I am so excited for the next 6 months.