In less than 24 hours, I will be departing from Philadelphia, PA to Dublin, Ireland. I am excited, nervous, and just about everything in between. I think my mind’s been racing so much over the last few days about going to Dublin that I haven’t been able to sleep properly.

Exactly one year ago today, I was en route to my first study abroad destination, Rome, Italy. The experiences that I had in Rome were incredible and can be described as life-changing. I had such a good time in Rome that there was a good period during the month of November last year that I was seriously considering transferring to my study abroad school, The American University of Rome (AUR). When I came back, I was on a study abroad high – all I wanted to do was continue to travel and enjoy my early 20s outside of the United States. In my mind, I had already decided that I would study abroad at least one more time before my undergraduate career at Drexel ended – though I will admit Dublin was not one of the study abroad destinations that I was originally considering going to. I had heard nothing but good stories about Dublin, but I truthfully didn’t know enough about the city and what was there to see in order to consider it.

There were a variety of reasons as to why I had chosen to study abroad in Rome last year: I had studied the Italian language for nearly five years, I grew up in South Philadelphia – an area of town with a high concentration of Italian-Americans, I was an avid fan of Italian cuisine, I was a huge fan of Ancient Roman history, and I had a Roman-Catholic upbringing. To me, I felt that I knew enough about Rome already that I went there with a lot of confidence about what I was going to do there. And for the most part, I did.

Fast-forward to April 2013, the Drexel Study Abroad Office offered me the position of Student Mentor as part of the Freshman Frontiers Program in Dublin. Naturally, I immediately said yes. In my mind, not only was I getting the second study abroad experience that I wanted, but I was also given an opportunity to boost my resume through the Student Mentor position.

However, unlike Rome, I am very unfamiliar with Dublin, other than it being the capital of the Republic of Ireland and being home to Trinity College. I’ve done some research online about Dublin and Ireland in general, so I have begun to develop an idea of what to expect. I think herein lies the beauty of what this new experience has to offer: unlike Rome, I am going to Dublin not knowing exactly 100% what I am getting myself into beyond seeing the main attractions of the city. I think my biggest challenge and ultimate goal is to make sure that this experience is so new to me that I cannot compare this experience to my Rome experience. I want to have fun, make new lifelong-friends in Dublin and at Dublin Business School, get to know Dublin inside and out, and ultimately leave Dublin not wanting to come back. I want to make sure that as a Student Mentor for the Freshman Frontiers Program, the ten freshmen going with me feel the exact same way.

I guess I should finish packing what feels like ten jackets.