Hello World!

And by world I mean select few family and friends who will read this :)

My mom informed me I needed to keep a blog for my travels abroad and I just thought it'd be easiest to start it now!

I don't know how much of my next year has been explained to you but here's what I'm doing...

SEA Semester is an amazing program based out of Woods Hole Massachusetts. In August I will be going to MA for the first half of my program. I will learn how to sail, I will learn about oceanography and the policies of the Seas. After those six weeks I'll be tested and if I pass I get to board the SSV Corwith Cramer with my fellow class mates and I'll sail down the coast to the Caribbean carrying out a research project perviously designed in MA.

As wonderfully romanticized as that description is, this is probably going to be one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. When on board I'll have to be on watch working on deck for around 6 hours at a time, then I'll have to conduct research and then I'll sleep for about 6 hours and have to get up for watch again. Some days I'll be on watch in the middle of the night, other days in the middle of the day.

It's going to be unbelievably hard.... and unbelievably rewarding... and I couldn't be more excited!!

I guess another thing that prompted me to start this now was that SEA emailed everyone today saying they had created a Facebook page for us to get to know each other. At this point about 10 of next falls participants have joined the group, one guy has friended everyone and other than that, nothing has happened. The page for the group remains blank, and I know that I've been looking at the people all day... have they been looking at me? PROBABLY. Because what else is Facebook for?

THEN after all this SEA Semester madness, I'll be heading to Wellington, New Zealand. HOPEFULLY. I have to get one last approval from Scripps, but when/if I do, I'll apply for my NZ program this summer! In New Zealand I'd go to Victoria University in Wellington, which is on the North Island. This would be a less specialized semester, more just a university abroad experience. WHICH IM EQUALLY AS EXCITED FOR. :)

Here are the websites for each of my places, peruse at your will:

www.sea.edu

http://www.victoria.ac.nz/home/

Well anyway, I plan on using this blog to document my life for the next year or so and why not start now? Love you all!