Bon Voyage!!!

Tomorrow I fly from Columbus, OH to JFK in New York to board an 8-hour flight to Dakar, Senegal. I got a jump-start on my packing and finished it two days ago - a first for me. :) My family has been very supportive throughout the entire process, which has been a great blessing. My purpose for traveling to Senegal is to finish my French minor. I began researching possible destinations my freshman year since I entered college with the intention to travel. I've always wanted to travel to Africa, and this provided the perfect opportunity to do so. I went to the study abroad office on campus and looked through their materials, searched the web, and narrowed down my options. I determined which schools had what I was looking for and then cross-analyzed them and finalized my options to three schools/programs. I then called each program and asked them a series of questions then decided which I wanted to apply to first. I went through a rather lengthy process, but it's not for everyone. I have some close friends who have/are studying abroad and were able to find a fit easily without going through the whole research process. If you're interested in studying abroad, I recommend going with whatever method works best for you when picking a program. There are so many places to choose from and the sky is the limit: the whole world is literally at your fingertips. I look forward to providing you with updates about my trip and hope the information I provide is helpful.