Submitted by Michaeleen Furbush on the 2019 winter session study abroad program in the Virgin Islands sponsored by the School of Nursing…
So it’s been almost a full week here! It’s been amazing and very enriching to meet people and hear their stories. We went on an all day boat tour and one of the people running the tour was a girl named Katya. She was so sweet and open to sharing her experiences with us. She was 25 when she had dinner with her parents and told them her plan to sell everything she owned and buy a one way ticket to St. Croix. She was lucky in that her parents came around to the idea relatively quickly and supported her decision. She spoke of her arrival here and the beginning of her new life. She found a place to live and walked into all the local shops and boat stores asking for a job until she got one. Now a year later, she couldn’t imagine having not done it. A lot of the people I’ve met on the island have similar stories and it’s so amazing. It takes a lot of maturity and independence to commit to something like that. I think that’ll be one of my goal’s for the trip to think about ways and learn techniques to foster more independence and maturity. Not to move away from home, but to incorporate those qualities into other aspects of my life and my nursing career.
