Day 0
Hey friends ! I am currently writing this in Newark Liberty International Airport waiting for my first flight to Paris. I will be flying to Minneapolis first (the opposite direction !) and then to CDG, so 2 hours of flying and then 8 hours. Admittedly, I am not looking forward to this travel day. My flight arrives in Paris at 7 am and I have two hours to get through immigrations and some food to catch my train at 9 am. By 11 am, after 17 hours of travel, I will be in Strasbourg finally. I have my music, shows and movies downloaded, and an activity book, so hopefully I can keep myself entertained.
I am using this opportunity to document my feelings about moving to France for my masters because I have a LOT of emotions going on (as one does when moving to a different country). You would think that 10 years of preparing for this exact moment would make it easier, right ? Well, I will say that I feel completely unprepared. I mean, going to a familiar city helps, but there is still so much I don’t know.
On one hand, I am incredibly proud of myself for chasing my 8th grade dream of studying astrophysics in France and I am excited to resume my life in Strasbourg. I have friends and connections from my semester abroad that I cannot wait to reconnect with. It is wild to me how I was able to build a life for myself in Stras in just five months, even when I didn’t know if I would be coming back. Now I have the opportunity to settle into old routines and create new ones.
On the other, I feel guilty leaving my friends and family. Sometimes it feels like I made a selfish choice, moving myself to another continent to chase a crazy dream. I think it will always feel this way, even though I know that this is what I am meant to do. Thinking about all of the birthdays, and big life events that I will miss makes me sad, and of course I wish I could come home for all of those, but it would be impossible with school. It’s a massive tradeoff, I get to live my dreams but I have to leave behind my life and all of the people whom I love.
Anyways, I need to finish this post because I am about to board my first flight. I have a long journey ahead of me and I cannot wait to arrive at my accommodation and settle into my new life. It is absolutely surreal that a dream that started 10 years ago is turning into reality. I am incredibly grateful to share this opportunity with you all and I look forward to updating you on my first day in Strasbourg !
À plus, tout le monde. Que l’aventure commence !
