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Abstract: I'm reviving this comatose blog to keep track of my adventure to Europe which admittedly I could have planned better. Donate money if you can because while Aldrin has basically paid off his program and flight to Prague, yo' homeboy still needs a meager amount of funds to explore while across The Pond and to help cover adult things like paying rent and utilities for his humble Reno abode while abroad.
To anyone still subscribed to this blog, I apologize for the entirely random entry.
To anyone else who's joining me on this domain for the first time, some background - I started this blog in the Fall of 2012 to fulfill a required component of my English 102 Honors course that involved walking around Reno (still relatively new to me at that time) and reflecting upon what I saw. Sometimes prompts were involved, most times I just wrote what I felt like/what sounded good.
Fast forward to right now, May 2015; as a student enrolled in HON 410 - yet another honors course requiring me to explore new places and reflect upon my impressions and experiences - I have found myself once again with the need to maintain a blog for a few weeks. Rather than starting an entirely new blog, I have elected to continue updating this one after a nearly 3 year hiatus.
So here goes the first of a series of "EuroTrip" blog posts - posted straight from my living room at 5:53AM, two days before finals week begins. Basically, some background on my progress with getting this trip going since I first turned in my application.
EuroTrip #1 - Countdown: 17 Days (Depart Date: 05/22/2015)
I haven't talked a whole lot about my upcoming trip with my friends and family; not extensively at least. This was in part due the stresses of day-to-day life such as the aforementioned finals and associated classes, lab work, fraternity (both Alpha Kappa Psi & Phi Mu Alpha) activities, Circle K (which gets a whole category of its own), Peer Advisor work, etc.
A larger contributing factor towards my silence on my upcoming trip was just the uncertainty - in a manner remarkably uncharacteristic of me, I applied and submitted my USAC application for the Summer I Session in Prague without fully working out the details. Operating off a broad outline at best, I hadn't given much thought to this trip after being accepted into the program - mostly due to all of the above mentioned reasons.
This would come back to bite me in the ass. Mostly in the form of securing financial aid. Originally, I applied for this program with the intent of securing a Gilman Scholarship (approx. $3000) to finance practically all of my program fees and expenses. Unfortunately, life happens and I never got around to filling out my application. To quote one of the USAC advisors, I may as well have, "taken a $3000 check and burned it" since my chances for getting a Gilman were pretty damn good. #liferegrets
Fortunately, I received a $2000 scholarship from the good 'ol CNH Kiwanis Foundation for my services as a Circle K President. And since most of my expenses are covered and/or are being deferred until financial aid kicks in, I figured now would be a good time to really buckle down and get serious with this trip - especially when one considers that my departure date is a mere 2.5 weeks away.
So now the real planning starts - starting with an appeal for more funds. As mentioned, the immediate fees surrounding my trip are in order and I will (with 95% certainty) be travelling to Prague this summer. However, I still need a few hundred to cover a month's rent & utilities (thank you NV Energy for applying my deposit to my balance btw - no electric bill for the month that I'm gone!) along with some spending cash for when I'm actually gone for basic living needs, cool souvenirs, and emergencies.
If you're reading this and you'd like to help out, consider clicking the link below and donating $10, $20, $50, or however little or much you can afford to donate. I'd really appreciate it and you can expect a cool little trinket from Prague for your contribution, along with my everlasting gratitude and thanks.
I'm going to cut this post off here because I'm heading to Bibo's coffeehouse in a bit to get some work done - they don't have Wi-Fi available which is great for working without distractions but awful for posting and maintaining a blog. This is pretty much goodbye and Good Morning then - stay tuned for more updates though! By the next time this blog is updated, it should either be the night before my flight departs or when I'm settled into my new apartment for the summer.
'til next time,
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