hadn’t set up any alternative minor to fall back on, my plans for Spain were suddenly useless. Obviously, finding out four months before you plan to arrive in Madrid that you can’t, in fact, go to Madrid is a bit frustrating. But thanks to a creative advisor, I was able to throw together a study abroad plan that could get me my major. Instead of hopping the Atlantic, I’d head south — to Ecuador. At first, I wasn’t sure if I was ready to scrap years of dreaming to visit a country I knew almost nothing about. But I didn’t want to lose out on a chance to study abroad. And, as a senior, I knew this was my last chance. So I rearranged my class schedule at the last second, traded my maps of Spain for maps of Ecuador and dove in. And you know what? During my research, I found out Ecuador is pretty darn interesting. Cuenca, the city where I’ll be staying for two months, is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Cotopoxi, located near the middle of the country, is the world’s highest active volcano. There are the Galapagos Islands (probably a little out of my price range) and
the Amazon Rainforest (definitely going there!). Plus there’s all sorts of other fascinating things the country has to offer, many I’m sure I won’t discover until I’m there. Maybe Ecuador wasn’t my dream. But sometimes, there are things better than your dreams, things you hadn’t even considered. Just because I’m not going to Spain this spring doesn’t mean I’ll never get over there. Right now, I’m determined to make great memories, meet great people and have a life-changing adventure in Ecuador. Sure, it’s a bit scary thinking about jumping into the unknown for two months. Sure, I worry I won’t be able to keep up with the Spanish, especially at the newspaper where I’ll be interning. But I’ll adapt. And more than that — I think I’ll thrive. This experience will open my eyes to a part of the world I knew thought about before, and I can’t wait. As I stared at my computer screen and my finger hovered over the mouse, I felt nervous. I felt doubtful. But more than that, I felt excited. An adventure was waiting. I clicked the button. M MANKATO MAGAZINE • January 2013 • 35