Moving On...

Hey guys,

So, I was a bit absent from blogging for a while, and for this I apologise, but, in those two weeks, something very big happened.

Okay, so, if you have read my 2017 Goals, then you will know that I applied to study abroad in the USA or Canada, and was waiting on a decision over Christmas. During this time, I was told that over 50% more students had applied that year across the university (which is a hell of a lot of people) to go on the international year abroad. And most of these applications were to go to the US or Canada. So, as you can probably guess, I wasn't expecting to get in.

Sadly I was right, as the universities that I had picked to attend had over 50 people applying per place (I know, it was pretty ridiculous), so I was put in the 'pool'. Yes, this was a tad disheartening, but it had also happened to a lot of my friends, so I wasn't too bothered by it.

However, when I opened the email saying my application was unsuccessful, I actually felt relieved. I know you may be thinking 'what on earth?', as I was thinking the exact same when I felt it, but I did. I don't know if this was because the stress was over and I kind of already knew that I had been unsuccessful, so was just happy to move on, or if it was something else. I later realised that it was something else.

I'm not going to lie, spending a year in the US or Canada would be an amazing experience, and I may do something like that some day, but I had started to doubt my decision. What if I didn't like it? What if something happens and I can't get home? These were two questions that stood out to me the most, as these are both things that have happened at my current university. In Birmingham, I'm only 3/4 hours away from my hometown, so what would it be like if I was on the other side of the world? Due to this, before getting my application back, my anxiety surrounding it seemed to be getting worse, which I just assumed to be to the university taking a hell of a long time to reply, but, as it turned out, I just didn't want to go. I say this, I would have liked to go, but the cons were outweighing the pros at this point.

Therefore, I started to consider Europe. Before the whole application process began, I had looked at the University of Bari in Italy, as this was one of the universities that my department linked with in the Erasmus scheme. It was truly stunning, and the town of Bari itself was one that looked incredible, with a ton of history and culture. However, I had always had it in my head that I wanted the American University experience (as who hasn't watched a film about a college in America and thought it looks pretty insane? And I know that films aren't completely accurate, but it still looks pretty cool). So, I stuck with America, and applied. In a weird way, I feel that if I had gone straight for Erasmus, I would have thought 'what if?', so I'm glad that I did it this way, as it helped me find out what I really wanted to do.

After my application to the International programme was unsuccessful, we were offered another chance to apply, but I decided to go for the Erasmus scheme. This did involve a very stressful hour and a half in a café in London with just my phone to write an application and translate the university's website, but I did it. I would also like to apologise to the other people in the café, as they saw a very stressed out Grace that day who was very loudly crying into her cup of tea due to the stress of it (I was told my application had to be in that day as there was one space left). I finally got my application in after a lot of tea drinking, and then went for a celebratory pancake, cause why the hell not?

So yeah, last Monday, I found out that I was going to be studying in Bari for the next year of my life. It is daunting as hell, but I am honestly so excited for this next chapter in my life, and cannot wait to document it all on my blog. So yes, I do apologise for all the Italy talk that will be on here, but I do love a good travel and lifestyle post! But don't worry, the beauty posts will also be here too!

I just thought that I would write this post to show that even if you want something, but don't get it, something else great may come along instead. Even though studying in the USA would be an amazing opportunity, so will studying in Italy, and I'm really glad that I made this decision. I had no idea that I would be in this position this time last year, and am so happy with how far I have progressed, and I am so happy that I haven't let my anxiety hold me back from such an amazing opportunity.

I'm now off to frantically learn Italian and eat some pizza (ha, as if I need an excuse!)

Tanto amore,

Grace x

(and yes, I did just Google translate that)