8 Days Across the Ocean

Each year, the graduating 8th grade class at St. Francis School takes a trip to Italy. Below are Katerina Libera's memories of this year's trip...

March 9, 2011. That's the day we packed up and flew across the ocean. That's the day we were introduced to new culture. That's the first day I'd ever been out of the U.S. That one day held so many adventures, who would have thought? To everyone else, March 9th was just another Wednesday. But not to me. No, March 9th was the day that everything changed for me.

My spring break started off a little funky. An atypical spring break in my eyes. Being new to St. Francis, I hadn't truly been waiting long enough for this. Some kids have waited, are waiting for this day for years and for some, years to come. Nothing can truly prepare you for such an event. No words of advice can even begin to prepare you for what was going to happen. It would be different than any other spring break. The next week would be unusual beyond description. And it all started on March 9, 2011.

Did I deserve this? I certainly hadn't waited as long as most people. I definitely didn't prepare months in advance. I was going across the ocean for 8 days! Why was I getting to do this while other people were in school and others at work? There was something off about the way I was feeling. Sure, I was lucky and VERY grateful, but something beyond that. Maybe I felt guilty. To be honest, I wasn't excited. Any other kid could have taken my spot, but I was going to another country and I wasn't excited!? I could have been scared or homesick (before I had left home..?), maybe I wasn't comfortable with change. I can't really tell you, because those all may be excuses for my lack of excitement. Whether I was excited or not, nothing would have helped me foresee the crazy events that would happen in the days to come.

I knew that I'd get to learn more about a completely different culture. I'd get to "live" there for 8 days. I knew that there would be things I missed about America. I knew I'd be exhausted and tired. I knew what just about everyone else knew. But it didn't hit me, it was too surreal. I had fun watch my friends learn along with me. Everything that was talked about before the trip was right in front of me. I touched the Doge's Palace, climbed the Spanish Steps, saw the home of St. Francis. I was in Italy, and nothing could ever be so awe striking. To me, nothing would ever be impossible again.

Today, I wear a different smile, a different attitude. Today, I walk a little differently and see things in a different view. Why me? March 9, 2011. The first day of the next 8 across the ocean in another country.


~ Katerina Libera, 8th Grade