Don't Worry, Be Happy

My entire summer was spent worrying. Worrying about online classes and working and fitting in all my goodbyes and packing. But more than anything, I was worrying about leaving it all behind. I was worried I'd made the wrong decision when I accepted this scholarship. I'm not brave or strong or independent. I'd never washed my own clothes or gone more than a few weeks without my parents. My German really isn't too great and I have enough trouble making friends in my own language. When it came time to say goodbye to my parents I was scared more than I ever admitted. But after a few days with the other kids I began to make really good friends and a few of my worries began to fade and everything was so much fun. But by the end of camp those fears that had disappeared were replaced by new ones. I was about to leave all of my new friends and live with complete strangers and start going to a school where I knew no one in a town where I knew no one in a country where I knew 49 other kids. It was such a scary thought. I remember the last day of language camp we all walked around the room hugging and crying and we were all so nervous to meet our families.And then I met them and they were wonderful. Things were awkward and quiet, but I loved them and they were so incredibly nice to me and everything went so well. And then I had school and the kids were so welcoming and the teacher were so understanding and again, everything went so well. So it's finally dawned on me that all that worrying was really for nothing. I could spend my year worrying about everything that could go wrong (and there’s a lot that could go wrong!), or I could spend it being happy, and learning from my experiences when things do go wrong. And I think the latter is a much better idea. :)