Starting the Trip ... Here at Home!

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I have a thirst for foreign education. Since I was small, I desperately wanted to study abroad. I joined up with an exchange student program, AFS, during high school in hopes of attending a Japanese 高校 (koko, or "high school"), but at the last minute I changed my mind once I realized how deep into my parents' pockets I was digging. Do I regret that decision? A little! Who doesn't, in the words of Belle (from notorious Disney princess film Beauty and the Beast), "want adventure in the great wide somewhere"?

(You'll find that I use a lot of quotes from Disney... I think they're my inspiration!)

So now that I'm fresh out of community college and living in a tiny town with no job prospects, what's the first thing on my mind?

Gee, C, you never did go overseas to study! What a bummer! But there's still your BA degree.

Cue the University of the West of England (aka UWE, Bristol), entering stage left with spotlight whilst a narrator overhead reads "ranked top new University for successful research applications and is number one green University in the UK." If that doesn't impress you, UWE is also currently enjoying a nice cushy seat in the top five new universities and snagging the 59th spot in top-ranking universities (of which there are upwards of 100, not including the other hundred-something colleges of higher education that didn't quite make the cut set by the Privy Council. All of this is, of course, something gleaned from the Which University is Best blog here on blogspot.

UWE, pronounced you-we, sits in the southwestern city of Bristol, England -- an approximate 1.5 hour train-ride away from London. Of all its different majors and joint-majors programs, the one that interests me is the English with English Language joint-major.

Now, wait, I know what you're thinking! But don't worry; I don't plan on becoming a writer of any sort (aside from the casual blogging). I don't think I'm creative enough to be hashing out plot lines and coming up with character descriptions! Instead, I have my heart set on being an editor, where I can read for free and correct people's spelling and grammar (that doesn't mean that my own is flawless, though. After all, I'm still learning!).

Whilst most in my family will and do argue that I ought to stay here in the States and attend FSU's new Editing, Writing, and Media track, I can't find it in my heart to simply stay at home and content myself with the same old routine and the same old people. And anyway, where better to learn English than at its place of origin?

Is this yearning for the world foolish? Probably. Will I change my mind and actually end up at FSU? If I do, I hope it's for the right reasons. After all... I've made it this far without seeing the world, and I'm still young and untried. There's always my Master's degree if I want to study overseas. 


And that brings me to the purpose of this blog: my journey to the UK, one way or another, as a visitor or as a student, and the adventures that lie beyond.