by Tatiana Rodriguez ’23

Recently I went to France with students from my French class. We went to the city of Marseille for 10 days and for that brief time, life felt surreal. With perfect weather, amazing views, and amazing French people, it felt like a dream come true. Despite how perfect it seemed, it was still a lot to get used to with a 6-hour time difference, not having my family, and relying on my host family for food or transportation.

Even though I was excited for the trip, knowing that I would have to deal with all these changes made me really nervous about the trip. My mind raced with thoughts of what if I hate my host family? Hate the school? Or hate the country in general? These thoughts filled my mind leading all the way up to the trip but completely disappeared after a day. Realizing that feeling nervous about the unknown and then excitement taking over once I am in the actual moment is something I remind myself of as I enter adulthood and go to college in a place I don’t even know and don’t know what to expect.

This trip to Marseille taught me how to adapt to situations where I don’t have the same level of control as I do now and have more responsibility for taking care of myself. This trip helped me get into a better mindset when I came back to realize the changes that I had to make now in high school by giving myself more time for self-care, cutting out toxic friends, and working a different position at my job. Although it all seemed scary at first, it has turned out for the best. What I learned from this trip will follow me into college in North Carolina and have to ask myself the same nerve-wracking questions about how I will adapt and fit into a new stage in my life. But it is important for me and everyone in this situation to remember that it might seem scary to deal with change at first, but change is necessary and most of the time leads to something better than you could have ever imagined.