When I first got accepted into the Fulbright program, I had conflicting feelings. I was relieved because I finally knew what I would be doing after graduation but stressed because there was an entire move to plan. I was excited because I would be living in another country but nervous because I would be leaving my friends behind for almost a year. Controlling these emotions was hard, but I relied on my past experiences to calm down. Thanks to my hard work in high school and early on in college, I was able to start traveling on my own when I was around twenty years old. These trips, which usually sent me somewhere within the U.S. to present academic papers, felt like preparation for something bigger and something I had never done before: living in another country.
Monterrey was not entirely unknown to me, and it was not very far from where I grew up, but I actually liked that. Moving out of the country felt less daunting because I knew that my parents would not be far away. I also already knew people in the city. Taking these things into account when you travel is important. You do not necessarily need to go to another hemisphere to find interesting things that are not available at home.
