living like elle

How I got where I am. 

Lets take a step back and talk about how all this became possible for me. Growing up I have always had a lot of drive and ambition, that was something that was never foreign to me. College has always been on my mind from the time I was little, I knew I wanted to be educated through a college degree. At first I thought I wanted to go as far away from home as I could and attend a school in Florida. Turns out I am very dependent on my mother, hence why I ended uo at Washington State. Even though I stayed in the state my college is still a 6 hour drive from home. Far enough to feel like I left my hometown, but close enough to where I could always drive home if I needed. I consider my little college town to be perfect. I am a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I truly believe I ended up at WSU because I was meant to study wine and meet the people that I have met at college. Even the people who have not stayed in my life have taught me lessons, even if they were hard ones. 

After lots of time reflection I have come to the conclusion that I enjoy being uncomfortable and putting myself in uncomfortable situations. If you take a look at my life I am always doing something that most people wouldn’t, and I believe thats because I have a love for stepping out of my comfort zone. I knew I had always wanted to study abroad for a semester, but it was a struggle of picking where to study and how to find the program that was best fit for me. This was about a year long process. I had many meetings trying to figure out where to go. I was heading to New Zealand for awhile; that was a pretty set thing until I saw the size of their spiders. New Zealand then became a no go for launch. No way I could live a semester surrounded by massive spiders, I simply would have gone into cardiac arrest. So the process of picking where to study started again. The research and time that you have to put into figuring out where to study abroad is a lot, its not an easy task. I was randomly scrolling one night on the study abroad options my college had to offer and I saw a provider program called Semester at Sea. I’m a water baby, I was born on the water and have always been in love with the water, so this whole sea intrigued me and I couldn’t shake the urge to go. I knew almost nothing about the program besides the fact that I would get to travel the world and live on a boat. Thats simply all I needed to know. I applied and got accepted. 

Once I was accepted I actually started doing some more research on Semester at Sea. I learned I would be able to travel to 11 different countries, live on a cruise ship, and meet people from around the world for four months. 11 countries can be a lot for many people, even though it sounded amazing to me, it could sound completely overwhelming to another. What spoke to me about these 11 countries was the wine, how could I pass up an opportunity to drink wine from 11 different places around the world? I was stoked. I have learned the American way to make wine, and while many things are universal in the wine making world, everyone who makes wine does something a little different, they add their own touch to their wine, or they have different technology. So leaning about how people make their wine around the world is exactly what I wanted to do. How could I possibly pass up this opportunity? 

So I started planning and prepping for this four month voyage. Prepping for this adventure took over a year. Getting all the proper vaccines, doctors appointments, getting medications that were required, getting visas, planning how to pack, there was so much to do. After around a year of prep and making sure everything was completed and ready to go the day finally came, it didn’t feel real. My parents dropped me off at a hotel in Seattle WA (which was a very hard see ya later) and the next morning I was boarding a flight to Dubai with my best friend who was going on this voyage with me. 

There I was flying to Dubai, with my best friend by my side. Life didn’t feel real and it still dosent. This was all so new, flying across the world to go and travel by ourselves and study what we love to do, it was amazing. We landed in Dubai and spent a few days there that were so amazing. Then the time came where we boarded out ship and set sail for our `11 countries. Dubai, India, Kenya, Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Spain, Morocco, Portugal, Germany. The world became our campus. 

I just want to put in a little side note. These things are possible for everyone, there are so many resources for everyone as well. Although recourses may not always be easy to find research may be required. If you have a drive and a desire, you can do whatever you want in this world. My desire was to study wine, and travel the world. None of this came easy to me, it was so much hard work and took so much dedication, and I am so thankful for my parents who have helped make everything possible for me. I would not be able to be where I am without the guidance of them throughout my life and the constant support system that they give me.