Typically I’m the type of person who gets nervous before any event in my life, whether it’s something as little as reading a paper in front of my class, or as major as bungee jumping off a cliff. However, as the date gets closer to leave for Pristina Kosovo, I don’t find myself very nervous. My family and friends constantly ask me if I’m excited or nervous to go, and I continuously respond with nervous not because I actually am scared, but because I feel that’s the answer they’re waiting to hear. Not only are my parents (particularly my mother) nervous for me to go, even strangers, (such as the lady who filled my passport at the post office) would hear where I was traveling, then give my mother a concerning look, asking if it was really safe to go there. I realized that they were more concerned about the past, and things they’ve heard about Kosovo, while I’ve been focused on what the future of the country had to offer. Not only would I be getting an experience that not a lot of other kids get, but I would also be able create a body of work that helps capture the essence of Kosovo through the people who live there, to reinvent its image, showing others that there’s no need to focus solely on the negativity of past events that occurred there. I’m so excited to learn about and immerse myself in such a unique culture and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity!