YES ABROAD SAID YES!

OH MY FREAKIN GOSH!

Ok, I sound immature and too crazy to even explain my excitement. Maybe I can make it a little simpler:

I received this, this morning:

Dear Katie,
Congratulations on your acceptance as a finalist on the YES Abroad Program in Bosnia and Herzegovina!

I am ecstatic. BEYOND ecstatic. I wish I could say that when I found out the news I started jumping and crying and all emotions just started running wild. But no. My parents woke me up this morning with the news so I was so disoriented that all I could understand was that I did it.
Me.
After months of waiting and wishing on 11:11 and praying and that horrible agonizing feeling I got every day another day passed after no notification, I did it.
 
Which means I will be spending my senior year abroad in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. I don't have a host family yet or the exact dates when I leave. Pre-Departure Orientation is June 26, 2012. But as far as I know, we come home for a few weeks after that. Well. Some people leave immediately for their country because of the school system, but Bosnia (as far as I know) is run by the European school system, so I may be leaving later. Meaning time to cram in all my farewells to all my family and friends.

All I can say right now, is that I am excited. True, now I have to go through waiting another three months or so until I leave which will include all my boot camps (so many things to do before I leave!), but this will fly. And then I will be flying to beautiful Bosnia. Oh, you don't know what Sarajevo looks like, do you? Well, you shall be enlightened!

My life is about to be so enriched and I cannot wait to gain this experience. I have been waiting for this since the first time I heard it was possible. One of the first long stories I wrote about was a girl traveling across the Atlantic to study abroad! True, it was in England, but still.

I can't write my excitement. All I feel is my gut going in knots because now I'm not nervous if I am going abroad or not. Now I'm nervous because I only have three months to learn as much Bosnian as possible.


As for NSLI-Y, if I make it, I will most likely turn it down unless somehow I make it to Rabat, Morocco... then it will be a very hard decision. But we'll see! I will know by next week. Even though I am accepted with YES, I still want to know my status for NSLI-Y.


Anyway, my day has been made. I love everyone who has supported me through this and I love YES Abroad!

Until I know more information,
-Katie