Coordinator Comments -- Go West, young womanPublished Dec. 22, 2012

Felecia Bonanno

I started packing everything I own this week. Apparently I'm quite a light packer -- everything I need fits into a suitcase and a duffle bag, which is good, since my friend's Volvo isn't exactly what one would call roomy, and we'll need all the space we can make. The day after Christmas, Kelsey and I are heading on a two-week road trip across the country in that little car, that she affectionately dubbed "Daisy." Our destination: California.

We're attending a beautiful school out there as SUNY Plattsburgh exchange students for the spring semester. I couldn't be more excited; we're both the adventurous type, and although I've never been there, I've only heard good things about the state of California. Most people's concern when I tell them is that I won't come back.

However, "I'm not one to mistake a streetlight for the moon," to quote my favorite poet, Andrea Gibson. I know road tripping 2,800 miles isn't going to be "all rainbows and butterflies." We're going to do the best we can, though, to make it as close as possible to that -- I have a crystal prism that hangs from my rearview mirror and reflects the sunlight, making dancing rainbow squares everywhere (my brother got me that for my birthday with the remark, "I know you're into all that stuff, so this will be good for your trip.") Oh, and we have our home-made mix CDs with plenty of upbeat music, and we plan on stopping at every interesting place we can along the way, which is why we're taking two weeks to make it across.

I'm even excited about the classes we're each taking. Kelsey, as an expeditionary studies major, will be taking classes that include "Stress Reduction" and yoga. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get much better than that. I'm enrolled in journalism courses, as well as anthropology courses for my other major. I'm especially excited for the archaeology course I'm enrolled in. I feel like I'm going to learn a lot this spring.

I'll be in California until the end of the semester (that is, if I don't end up staying forever like everyone is telling me I will). Although I'm an adventurer at heart, I'll still miss home, even if I'm just gone for five months. I'll miss the craziness of entertaining my energetic younger siblings all the time, and eating my mom's food, and I'll definitely miss working at WG Life.

When I first had to take medical leave for the semester after being diagnosed with mono, I thought I'd be working in retail or the fast-food industry when I was well enough, just until I went back to school. I was so lucky to have this fun and interesting job with the incredibly kind Saratogian staff.

I'll miss it, but I plan on doing my fair share of both college-related and non-college related writing while I'm on the other side. Wish me luck!