Finals are over, I finished unpacking the things from my dorm, the family that was in town for my brother’s graduation from TCU has left, and I am sitting on my bed filled with excitement and staring at an empty suitcase. Growing up, I was always so excited for Christmas, and I would stay up as late as I could on Christmas Eve so I could count down the seconds until that glorious day. Today, I have that same feeling of childish excitement because tomorrow I will board the plane that will take me and some of the others on CR11 across the pond.

This past holiday season, specifically on December 18th, I recieved the best gift I could have asked for disguised as a text from Ryal Reddick (CR10). In the text, he sent me a video and said that it contained a general overview of our plans for Beta for the rest of the year. When I starting watching it, I thought it was odd that he customized the video personally for me and had Santa in the video with some Mariah Carey playing in the background. I was about to pause the video and ask Ryal why it was so cheesy but then Dr. P sat down and gave the big reveal that I was going on CR11. I was caught completely off-guard in the best way possible, and I could not stop smiling.

The feeling of excitement and anticipation that I felt way back in December had to be dulled so that I could get through the semester without exploding, but now that we’re leaving tomorrow, the feeling has resurfaced.

The experience of CR11 will not just be a fun time exploring Europe with 17 other incredible people, it will be a time of growth and challenge as well. One thing in particular that I hope to work on in Europe is my confidence when taking risks. I’m sure I will have plenty of opportunities to work on this skill in the next month. I do not know much about what we will be doing, but I do know that I will be amazed and surprised just about every day until I return home.

However, before I think about improving myself as a person during CR11, I should probably get back to filling my suitcase.