Glancing at my packed and ready suitcase(s), thinking about my upcoming study abroad, I can’t help but feel a beaming sense of gratitude and triumph coming from within like a lighthouse in the night. I have never left the United States, and in true me fashion, for my first time I am leaving for a whole 3 1/2 months.
In 2019, I was diagnosed with CPTSD and Panic Disorder. Getting on a plane, driving to work, going to appointments, etc., would send my body spiraling into emergency response level panic attacks that would last for days. The last four years of working on my mental health while still going to school has been one uphill struggle but the results speak for themselves.
As a former foster kid who two years ago couldn’t get behind the wheel of a car in fear of vomiting, vision going out, and hands going numb, and having to go to the E.R., who thought that she was never going to surmount to anything past high school…. YOU DID THAT! Less than two weeks until I arrive and the adventure begins.