3 Beers and a Can of Tomato Soup Later...

When asked about my choice to study abroad and why the hell I would purposely try and incorporate this much stress and uncertainty into my senior year of college, there is really only one night that comes to mind and can fully explain my reasoning. While I have had the most amazing college career of my life, I can attribute most of my best times to my amazing roommates that I have been fortunate to have for the past few years. We have had the most amazing experiences and I would never trade them for the world! However, occasionally they do go home for the weekend leaving me to fend for myself in the empty apartment. To say that I had had a rough sophomore year of college with all the changes in my personal life, family structure, and the uncertainty of my future would be a severe understatement and first semester junior year was one that I dedicated to putting my life  back together essentially. I have always wanted to go a non-profit route with my career and have always dreamed of doing the PeaceCorp or Doctor's Without Borders, however, I have never had the luxury of being able to afford travelling or doing mission trips. Fortunately, all that changed first semester of my junior year when my winner of a dad who had effectively been holding out on child support for the better part of ten years was finally caught up to and I started to receive what I referred to as "karma in a small sum" twice a month. I went from being completely financially independent which meant living on what I made working at O'Charleys on the weekends and tearing down weddings until 2am, a strict diet of beer and tomato soup, and the regular sob-fest the week before rent was due... to having an extra $200 a month to use at my discretion. I immediately took that money and ran straight to the first mission trip I found and one that changed my life. I was able to spend the most amazing weeks of my life in the Dominican Republic with the most amazing people ever and was able to see how possible it actually was to get out of Champaign Country.

 As soon as I returned home and back to my beer and tomato soup diet, I was greeted by a drastic change in my financial aid and grants from the state due to some "family restructuring" and was also informed that I had received one of the scholarships that I had applied for. I took that to be one big sign saying "Jenna get the hell out of here".. and I'm not one to turn down fate. After reviewing my bank statements over a few Blue Moons and some tomato soup, I immediately made an appointment with the study abroad office and was signed up the first week returning to school :) I was also fortunate enough to have my best friend Amanda invest in my endeavor and decide to tag along with making this officially the best trip ever. It took months of planning and preparing but a Visa and a plane ticket later here we are and ready for the best adventure to date :)

 I can honestly say that when I started preparing for this trip my intentions for the most part were to go far far away and never look back and leave Champaign County behind for good but after having the most amazing summer of my life I can say that I was actually surprisingly upset to leave. Words cannot express the complete 180 my life took after it was only Amanda and I in the apartment and with no stress from school. Although my summer was comprised of 70-80 hour work weeks up until the day I left, I cannot remember ever feeling tired or worn down due to the constant high I received from spending time with my best friends all summer. Stevo and Sarah might as well have been honorary roomies with how much time we all spent together and of course we were blessed with the frequent visits of Miss Aleah who is our chef extraordinaire and alllwways welcome to visit, as well as a much needed visit from Aly who I still can't believe I will never be able to live with again :( Every single day of summer was just the most amazing experience ever with it being only Amanda and I in the apartment (with the exception any one of our friends crashing on our couch or in the guest rooms any given night). It was a summer full of Amanda and I breaking out into MJ and T-Swift dance parties in our living room at all hours of the day and night, 8th Grade night at Joes with all my Rantoul friends, euchre nights, much needed beers on the balcony with Stevo after an 11 hour day of calling parents and answering random questions from kids, spending said 11 hour days with my best fran Sarah without whom those days would have been certain death, skinny dipping at the most amazing couple's wedding, going to the courthouse to witness my mother marry the man of her dreams and one of the greatest guys I've ever known, and even unexpectedly meeting an amazing guy a few weeks before I leave for four months (of course). So while I'm ecstatic to be long gone, I can honestly say that I miss my friends and family that I'm leaving behind but also look forward to spending these next four months with my new family and friends here :)