A year ago I began filling out my college applications. The process involved strenuous research, important deadlines and lots of procrastination. I managed to submit exactly one application more than 24 hours before its deadline and I still have nightmares about opening emails and checking the mailbox.

Fortunately, the process is finally over! The morning of the state Knowledge Bowl tournament, I awoke to find that I had been accepted to Middlebury College class of 2018.5.

I had no idea what the .5 meant. After five minutes of screaming with joy/ texting everyone I knew/ emailing my interviewer I finally got around to reading the rest of my letter. It said I would be starting school in February instead of September.

A "febmester" is a semester off before you start college at Middlebury. Apparently they choose students based on how self motivated we are and how likely we are to do great things with our time off. I'm not sure if that's just something nice they tell us to make us feel special, but I'm doing my best to prove them right!

So here I am! An entire semester with the time (and thanks to my family and community, the funds) to explore the world!

This blog will be my travel journal and a means for my family, friends and anyone else who appreciates quality humor and good writing to keep up with my misadventures.

I'm sure my explorations will all be quite exciting! And if they're not all that interesting, I'll be sure to make them sound like they are.