Final Countdown

Well, this is it, I leave this week.  I can't believe it.  I've been talking about studying abroad for four or five years.  I wish I was exaggerating with that, but I'm not.  When I started looking at colleges my junior year of high school, I made it very clear to my parents that I wanted to study abroad.  It was such a crucial part of what I wanted to do during my college career that it helped me make decisions about college (my parents told me once or twice that if I went to one college over another I may not be able to study abroad because of money).  Of course, that wasn't the deciding factor, but it definitely helped play into my final decision.

Going to England has been something huge for me, especially given my passion for Tudor history.  I spent all of the fall semester researching the religious policies of Henry VIII (surprisingly not as boring as it sounds given the fact that he founded the Church of England), and I've been obsessed with reading just about anything I can on the six wives of Henry VIII for the past four years (I can tell you the exact date I got interested in that, but we'll save that for another day).  So, finally, after four years of studying, reading, obsessing (my professor actually introduced me to the head of the history department at Salisbury as "This is Christina, she's obsessed with Henry VIII"), I'll finally be going to England.  I'll get to walk the places where they walked, see some of the stuff they saw and just explore a different culture.

So, I'll be posting here and on my other blog.  Be sure to check both of them out.  As of right now, I can't be certain which one I'll be posting on more often, but I'll let you know if I ever make an executive decision about that.  In the mean time, just make sure to check out both of them.  You can sync either one (or both) of them up to your Facebook by clicking "Follow this blog" on the right hand side of this post under the "Networked Blogs" widget.  You don't have to add an app or anything like that.  That way, when I update either blog, you can get a notification; pretty convenient, right?

Travel Preparations

I'd like to consider myself a somewhat well traveled person.  Thanks to the hard work of my parents, we would go on all sorts of really cool trips beyond like going to the beach for a few days over summer vacation.  These trips include Acadia National Park/Bar Harbor in Maine, Boston, Smokey Mountains in Tennessee, etc.  This year alone, I had the absolutely wonderful opportunity to go on two amazing trips for school.  First, I went to Indianapolis, Indiana for Kappa Delta Pi's Biannual National Convocation.  KDP is the national education honor society, so this was a wonderful opportunity for me to start preparing for my professional career (which will hopefully start in about a year).

The sunrise view of Indianapolis from out hotel room.

Group picture our last night in Indianapolis.

So, going to Indianapolis was completely unexpected and exciting, and I thought that it was going to be my last big adventure traipsing across America this academic year.  I was wrong, however, and I'm glad I was.  In March, I went to Ogden, Utah (about forty minutes away from Salt Lake City) to present my research "Henry VIII: the Religious Transformation of a Tyrant" at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research at Weber University.

Posing for a quick picture at Weber University.

Weber University

The Mormon Tabernacle

Utah was absolutely gorgeous, and the experience was amazing as well.  I was so glad I got to see my research presented for everyone else to see.  It was also reassuring that people thought the research I worked so hard on was good enough to be presented there.

Well, after going to Indianapolis in a whirlwind of excitement and some stress (packing tip: DON'T go to the movies the night before you leave on an important trip and get back at 10 PM without even packing, my roommate can tell you what this does to a person...it isn't pretty), it's pretty hard to believe that I'm going on yet another trip that simply pales the first two.  I find myself preparing for a whole new type of adventure though.  In 10 days, I'm leaving for London for six weeks to study abroad.  This is a completely new type of trip, and it's pretty exciting and intimidating.  I'm going to study abroad at the University of Westminster.  Unlike the first two trips, this is for a significantly longer period of time, to a foreign country and I won't know anyone else doing with me.  That can be a little scary to think about, but I'm more focused on the adventures I'll be having.  I love to study English history, so I'll finally be able to see all the places I love to study.  I'll also be taking some wonderful weekend trips, and I'll be there right before the Olympics.

Don't forget to check back here to see what's going on as I prepare to go to London and all my adventures there.  I also have another blog, Caleb the Germ in London where you can follow not only what I'm doing in London but also Caleb, my best friend's cold germ stuffed animal thingy.  We're very excited to go, so make sure to watch what we're up to.  Also, you can sync your Facebook to my blogs (either one or both).  On the right side of this post (go ahead, take a peek), there's a sidebar that says "Networked Blogs."  Just click "Follow this Blog," and it'll sync up with your Facebook, you don't have to download the app or anything like that.