An Unexpected Journey

You may have noticed that I mentioned the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship at the end of my last blog.   If you did, then congratulations and thank you because you made it all the way through my first post!   This is going to be a tag-line at the end of each blog post, so I thought it would be helpful to give you more of an explanation. The Benjamin A. Gilman scholarship is named after a man named Benjamin A. Gilman, who served in Congress for 30 years.   Gilman was very involved with international affairs and believed that college students should have the ability to study abroad.   As a result of his legacy, the scholarship is funded by Congress and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. The Gilman scholarship is tailored to meet the financial needs of those who would not be able to afford to go abroad without financial assistance.   I would call it a blessing, as I have personally benef...

I am not the blogging type.   The idea of you reading my thoughts is a strange concept to me.   Are my stories really that noteworthy?   Nonetheless I leave for Uganda in about two weeks to live among Ugandans for four months while I complete my social work internship and I would like to invite you to follow me on this adventure for all that it is worth.   The URL of my blog is inspired by none other than The Hobbit .   The Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit are at the very top of my favorite books (and movies) list.   The tenacious hearts of hobbits have greatly inspired me to choose to go to Uganda.   I figured if Frodo and Sam could journey to the deadly lands of Mordor with little hope and without help, then I could go to Uganda.   In comparison to their journey, my trivial fears seem small.   It is funny how perspective changes an entire picture. I have been looking forward to the movie The Hobbit: The Battle of the F...