Pre-departure: 1.5 months

The study aboard experience is a unique one where college students are able to immerse themselves into another society for an entire semester or year. It opens person's mind to the world and helps them create a multidimensional perspective.

I, like so many before, will be partaking in this experience. Near the end of January I will be traveling aboard to Amsterdam, Netherlands for four months.

Yes, The Netherlands; the land of political liberalism and alternative lifestyles.

Most people smirk when I tell them where I will be studying. They picture streets lined with coffeeshops selling more than coffee and women posing behind glass windows. However, I foretell my adventure to be an engagement of culture, lifestyle change, and education. I hope to leave and not only be an American, but Dutch as well, I anticipate discovering a place above the clichés and stereotypes.

Amsterdam has become known to the American media and public as a dumping ground for the delinquent. I hope to find a land of history, culture, fun, and excitement.

I plan a renting a bicycle and exploring this city filled with history and traditions. I also hope to meet as many people as possible from as many different places. I hope at one point in my life you have friends from every continent.

This will not be my first time aboard, over the summer I spent about a month in Rome studying intercultural communication with 25 of my peers from Dayton. It was my first time traveling outside the U.S (with the exception of Canada) and alone. The entire month in Italy was a month neither I nor any of my fellow travelers will ever forget. I learned more in a month then I have ever learned in any classroom. I loved every minute of the experience, and knew I would be back. The only difference was the location change.

I chose Amsterdam because enroute to Rome I had an hour layover in Amsterdam. I was only there long enough to go through customs, buy a bottle of water, and find my gate. As I was walking through the concourse, I tried to get a feel of the country and city I was in. Just by being there, I knew I was somewhere special, somewhere I needed to find more about. The time flew by and before I knew it I was thousands of miles above the earth on my way to Rome. Ever since leaving, I have wanted to go back and discover Amsterdam.

In the next five months I will be describing the simple aspects of the study aboard experience and pushing the envelope on the importance of this practice. I plan to accumulate the basic aspects of international travel and the discovery of other cultures. An international outlook is more important than ever for our generation. The only way to really find the truth of the world is to experience it yourself.

With this semester drawing to an end, the anticipation to my future excursions makes me jittery with excitement. The days continue to creep by, and the upcoming adventure is bestowed upon me. I can only make the best of what is to come, until then I will try to force myself to study and write papers. Wish me luck because this is torture.