A Goodbye and a Hello!

I know that that I've said this many times before, but it's still really hard to believe that in just a little over 12 hours I'll be on a plane ride heading towards New York. I'm just so used to spending my summer vacations doing nothing that it's a big surprise that this year I'm actually going to leave my house! 

Between Don, Mr. Ramsey, and Mrs. Kronenberg alone there's been lot of hard work put into making this trip a reality--and for that I'm really grateful and I'm happy that they'll all be there to send us off on Monday. 

I've been spending a lot of time preparing for this trip. I've been keeping myself busy by making sure that everything goes smoothly and between all the shopping, packing, and finalization I've done, I think I'm ready to go. You don't know how often I've thought  "Do I really need that?" or "Maybe I should bring this too." I was ready to just try and pack up my whole room, just to make sure that I didn't forget anything--but since we have a 50 pound weight limit I knew that I would have to cut corners and prioritize. And finally, after countless hours of packing and repacking, I'm finally done! 

There's only one thing that really worries me about this trip, and it's something that I've always hated about travelling. That's right--time zones. Even though I've made sure to get a lot of rest this past week, I'm still afraid of sleeping in. I'm not the best at keeping a constant sleeping schedule, so it's going to be somewhat of a challenge for me to get up in the morning, but I hope to quickly adjust to the time differences in the first week or so. If not, I have 3 different alarm clocks packed in my bag, so I'm sure that I'll get up one way or another. 

I'm honestly not sure of what I'm most excited about. There's just so much to this trip and New York itself that I already feel overwhelmed. We'll be going to dinners, sight-seeing, and, most importantly, attending one of the most prestigious colleges in the country--Columbia University. It's one new experience after another and I really appreacite this once in a lifetime opportunity. but there's one final hurdle before we depart; Mrs. L, Don, Mr. Ramsey, Mrs. Kronenberg, and of course, my fellow cohorts and I are all set to meet one final time before our departure at El Cerrito High School Monday morning at 3:45 AM sharp. While our shuttle is set to leave at around 4:30 AM, there's still a few last minute preparations to be done and farewells to be made. Even though I'm sure that I'm going miss my family and friends, I know that it's time to say goodbye to the Bay Area and hello to New York City! I'm really excited to leave and I can't wait to see everyone at El Cerrito High tomorrow!