This week has been intense. Not only is it week 10 and I’ve had 2 papers and a presentation due, but it is the week before I head off to see my best friend in
Ireland. She is studying abroad through North Central in
Limerick, Ireland with a few other NCC students. As the week has gone on, I’ve gotten more detailed shopping lists and more excited IMs with the countdown of days until I arrive.

Here is a picture of what we’ve done since Amy has been gone. (Take note that this is at a pumkin patch in Wisconsin, not Ireland… I don’t even know if they have pumpkins in Ireland.)

If you haven’t had a chance to talk to anyone about studying abroad in college, the time is now! Although I didn’t get a chance myself to study abroad, I did have several opportunities within my undergraduate career to travel overseas. I’ve been to Albania twice to teach English, and Thailand last December to work with a ministry in
Bangkok. I have had several friends, though, who have taken this great opportunity to study within a different culture in their four years at NCC. Some have gone to London, others to
Kenya; I even have friends who have gone as far as China/Japan! Currently, I am living with an exchange student from
Kenya. How appropriate seeing as I will be heading to
Zambia for a year after I graduate. The emphasis that North Central has put on the study abroad experience has even benefited students like me who chose not to travel the seas to study the books.

So if you are even considering studying abroad, let me tell you, GO! Here is the link to the international programs website, check it out, leave me a message and tell me what you think. International Programs. Where do you want to go? Where have you gone? What a great time we live in, where as young adults we have so many opportunities to see the world!

I’ll keep you updated on my travels and I hope you take a look at the website. Have a great Thanksgiving!

When you come to North Central, you will hear over and over again that you’re “just a train ride away from the great city of Chicago.” Friends, I want you to know that this is absolutely true. Your dreams of spending long afternoons in Grant Park or nights out on Clark St. can come true! This weekend I hopped in my car (I know, not exactly the train ride I promised) and headed to the city with one of my best friends from high school. He had driven all the way from Minneapolis to spend the weekend in the Windy City with a few more friends of ours.

The 35-45 minutes we spent in the car on I-88 and I-290 flew by (I will make no comment on the speed at which we were “flying”). The next 48 hours were filled with Chicago-delight. Saturday we spent roaming Clark and Broadway Streets looking for hidden treasures, or non-Starbucks coffee shops, and walking through ritzy art galleries while we were severely under-dressed.  We did find a really great used bookstore that any claustrophobic person would have not thought twice about stepping foot in, and ended the day with cooking dinner in our friends apartment, overlooking the lights of the city.  Sunday we spent at a church downtown and in the afternoon headed to the Contemporary Museum of Art for free! (Yes, that means enjoying Chicago for $0, thus far).  After spending some time contemplating the mind-bending art, and watching the first half of the Patriots and Indianapolis game, my friend and I headed back to the burbs.

I do admit that there is a sort of comfort that comes along with driving down Ogden St. back to campus, where the buildings can only be four stories high, after having been one of the greatest cities in the country for a few short days, where the skyscrapers tower over you. I appreciate having the comforts of home and being almost in view of the Chicago skyline, and I wouldn’t trade that for the world. Enjoy it while I can, right?