It feels like just yesterday that I was filling out my application for the Irish Studies Program. I clearly remember putting my finishing touches on my essays at one in the morning. Now I am here in the car on my way to Chicago O'Hare International Airport. In only a few short hours I will board a plane bound for Dublin. Yes, I am very excited. With every breath my anticipation grows. I cannot believe that the day has finally come.

As I look out the car window, I realize how much I am going to miss it all: the snow-covered cornfields, the patches of trees, the flat land, the farmhouses that seem out of place in this barren winter world. I know that compared to the Green Isle, the Midwest is a wasteland, but to me it is home. There is nothing extraordinary about it. The Midwest is not a destination like the East Coast or the West Coast or even the Rocky Mountains. Unless you consider cornfields a perfect vacation spot, I don’t know what would attract anyone to come here. But to me, I don’t think I will ever find a location quite like it. I am going to one of the most gorgeous places in the world—and I will enjoy it with speechless awe, I am sure—but this grey, frigid plot of land is home to me. As I travel to foreign lands and am surrounded by breathtaking landscapes, I will still remember where my heart truly lies—in Indiana.

My bags are packed after spending a day and a half squishing sweaters, jeans, and everything else I’ll need for a semester abroad. With my passport and boarding pass in hand, I will board that plane with 20 other students bound for Ireland. I know I will cry at some point, but at the moment I am smiling because I know that I am about to spend the next few months in a place that will change my life forever. I know I will look back over my shoulder one last time at the world I am leaving behind, but there is no turning back. I am going to have the time of my life. When I step on that plane, life as I know it will change. So what do I have to say to that? Bring it on.