18 Dias

Hello, you thousands of people who are sure to be reading my first-ever blog. This is all very exciting and new for me, so please bear with me as I struggle along with this process even worse than I struggled in elementary school with the last name Butz.
I decided to write a blog to tell people about my upcoming semester abroad in the Dominican Republic. As many of you probably know, this isn't my first overseas adventure. In high school, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be a foreign exchange student in Talca, Chile, for one year. While this was the best learning experience I ever had, it was also the hardest, shortest, most beautiful, and most emotionally draining experience of my life. They say that being abroad is like being on an emotional roller coaster, but no matter how much they tell you this, you can't understand it until you've really lived it, which every person who lives in a different country does. I had one hell of a year in Chile...I learned all the awesome imperfections of Chilean Spanish (of which there are many), had a five month stressful and draining relationship, made friends that I have until this day years later, learned to laugh and to appreciate life, dyed my hair blue (sorry mom), observed incredible amounts of social inequalities, starved a little, drank a little (again...sorry mom). During the experience and even months after it, there were a lot of moments in which I cursed the experience I had. I thought it should have been perfect, and I should have traveled more, and I never should have been in that awful relationship. However, over time I have come to understand that all of these things have made me who I am, and more satisfied with the life that I live than I ever was. I haven't had a lot of bad experiences in my life and haven't had to suffer many hardships, but the few that I have endured have taught me that this life is worth living every minute. Regretting what happened in the past won't get you anywhere, and moving forward and asking yourself, "how can I make the best use of the time I have?" is the only thing that we can really do to atone for things that haven't gone as planned.
That being said, I've tried to do that. Having a year in Chile and a three week service trip to El Salvador under my belt, I feel somewhat prepared for what's ahead. But just because I've been a few places doesn't mean that I'm better than anyone else or above anyone else. To me, it just means that I have some perspective and that I can be useful in the world, which is what I intend to be. It's just a matter of finding out exactly what my role is and working hard to get there. Ever since I was a kid, I was taught to work hard. Having the best set of parents on this planet has taught me a few things, and there's a lot that I wouldn't have been able to do without them. They worked hard and sacrificed a lot to give me and my brothers a life that would offer us the opportunities to become educated and do what we love. I feel very privileged to be at DePauw University, and though people may complain about the little things at DePauw like the annoyances of Greek life, the bad food at the Hub, the "long walk" from the Dells to the library, WE ARE SO LUCKY. Not everyone can do what we are doing at this school, and although many of us have had to work hard to get here, we are still lucky to have this opportunity to become educated and to push ourselves to the next level. Because of this, we must take advantage of every opportunity that our private liberal arts education gives to us, because after we graduate, we won't get it back. If you're a DePauw student, please don't waste your opportunities and potential. Go out there and take advantage of what's available and work hard so that when you graduate you have something to be proud of. I've seen too many people take the route of apathy and bad attitudes, staring opportunities straight in the face and not taking them, regretting it years on down the road. And I gotta tell you, I have no sympathy for that. For me, going abroad to the DR is one of those opportunities, and I hope to live it out the best that I can and learn along the way.
So, if after you've read this rant on opportunities and regret you still want to continue reading, I'm going to keep posting so people can see what I'm experiencing and learning in my time overseas. Thanks for reading my first blog, and I'll keep em coming. I will be leaving on January 2nd (in 18 days!) and will go to Santiago, Dominican Republic for four months, attending a university and staying with a host family, along with working 5-10 hours a week with a local organization to help people get back on their feet. I'm truly excited, as it's been a long time since I've lived out of the country. I'm excited for what this new experience will bring me and I'm happy to be able to do it. Can't wait to speak Spanish all the time and start fresh, if only for four months. Keep reading to see how it goes :)