I'm just so excited I have to spread my joy everywhere!
I'm a photography major at a community college. I've been in and out of college for 10 years (I already have one degree but it's a general studies degree), and one of my dreams has always been to do a study abroad experience. I learned about a state-run program my college participates in and started really researching. Contacted the director of the program at my school, looked up locations and classes, fees, scholarships, financial aid, all that. I have a meeting set up with said director to apply for a scholarship that would cover either 40% or 100% of the program, depending on what length it is. The program that I found that interested me the most and offered a course that I need for my major is a 3 week program in Italy, including Florence, Siena, and Rome.
This is my first semester at the school, so I was nervous about finding a faculty member to write me a letter of recommendation both for the scholarship and for the program itself. I have had a lot of contact with my Advanced Photography Techniques instructor before the class (he encouraged me to test out of intro photo and into advanced, and has been really helpful and encouraging) so I decided to talk to hm about it today after class.
Ironically, he brought up the Italy program during class today when showing us some editing techniques using photos he took last year - when he was the instructor for the Italy program!! I decided to mention to him at break that I was planning to apply for it, and asked if he was teaching it again this year. He said no, because he's going to be teaching the new program they're developing - in China!!
I've always wanted to go to Asia. Especially Japan and China. Seeing the Great Wall is high on my bucket list, and with all the awesome new coasters being built lately in China, it's been moving higher and higher on my "must visit" list. He told me the basic plan of the trip, which is a 4 week program (qualifying me for the higher 100% scholarship) and starts in Shanghai, travels through rural China, and ends in Beijing and yes, it does include a planned excursion to the Great Wall! He also said because it's a travel photography course, we won't really have class meetings and will be able to decide what we want to see and do and take pictures of.
He said I'd have plenty of time to visit the amusement parks I want to in the major cities.
To top it off, he said he'd absolutely write me a letter of recommendation for the scholarship, and give a personal recommendation for acceptance to the program - and his recommendation will pull a lot of weight considering he's teaching it!!
I can't wait to get the scholarship application and program application started. If I get the scholarship, between it and financial aid grants, it will cover the full cost of the program (including tuition, airfare, lodging and half of the meals), the application fee, and give me extra spending money. Meaning I wouldn't have to pay anything for the trip except for my passport!! I'm not getting my hopes all the way up yet because the scholarship is competitive, but he said they like to give money out and a lot of students get it.
I know this is a really long post and I don't blame you if you don't read all of it, but I just had to blurt it out somewhere!!