The first word is always the hardest. I've always seen the pristine white page before me and hesitated to desecrate it with my scribble. Worrying and fretting over how to craft the perfect first syllable, a captivating first statement, the best possible first impression on the page. And so I lay my first thoughts to this electronic tablet, etching my inaugural sentiments before I set off for this journey.
A brief preamble if you will allow me. Before me awaits at least a year abroad. I will be pursuing a masters degree in Government and Diplomacy in Israel. In the coming weeks and months it is my firm intent to share my experiences, my thoughts and to bring home a piece of foreign insight into international affairs.
With the setting established, I have a dual confession. Firstly, though my flight is less than eighteen hours away, the reality has not quite sunken in. I still feel that there is plenty of time to accomplish the innumerable tasks I had envisioned, the myriad small jobs which I thought would have been fun to complete. A number sit, as they shall continue to do patiently, for the next year. Time has run out and I have to accept that my bags are just about packed, and I'm leaving.
My second confession before you, my companions, is that despite how fantastically amazing this opportunity is, I am still scared. To speak nothing of returning to school after a hiatus, or the fact that I do not have a permanent residence yet established; at the core of the matter is that it is a significant change. And like many people, I often grow complacent with a routine, perhaps uninspired or worse, stagnant in my personal development.
I hope that you decide to continue with me on this great adventure. I will endeavor to share all I can with you and to be consistent with updates. And with this I will close, Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” Where will you go in the next year?
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