InterExchange

I have always had an incredible longing to visit many countries in Europe which house incredible beauty and history. During the latter half of my senior year in college, I decided to procrastinate on writing a research paper and research backpacking through Europe and other such trips instead. I thought that traveling would be the ultimate present to myself; I could celebrate my graduation by seeing Europe.

I have always been one to seek adventure. As a second semester senior in Boston, I watched my friends become consumed with stress as their final days of college turned into a blur of all-nighters in the library, filling out mountains of job applications, and preparing for interviews at their potential corporate office jobs. It was the expected “next step.” But as I looked around at my friends, I saw more dread than excitement. I didn't know what I wanted, but I knew I didn't want that. It seemed as if I had grown up surrounded by people who went through life in an unconscious state. They lived a life of non-being, following each other in mindless routine, always following society's expectations.

What inspired you to travel abroad?

Leading overseas programs is an adventure and a privilege, but the back and forth can become exhausting. At some point I wanted to put down roots and started investigating U.S.-based organizations. InterExchange and the position I was hired for came up in a post on the SECUSS listserv for Education Abroad.