Hello thoughtful reader,<\/p>\n
This post is going to be some background on me, my life, and my eventual journey to this Bangkok hotel. To start, my name is Chris. I am a rising senior at the University of Richmond. I\u2019m originally from a small town in Connecticut called Orange. I\u2019m a double major in political science and P.P.E.L (philosophy, politics, economics, and law) where my concentration is in philosophy. I\u2019m also an accidental minor in WGSS. I say \u201caccidental\u201d not because I don\u2019t want to be one, it\u2019s just I didn\u2019t plan for it. If you continue reading this blog post, you\u2019ll see that lots of my experiences are unplanned. Before that, though, here is a little more about me:<\/p>\n
I applied to the University of Richmond on a whim. I had listened to a lot of Lil\u2019 Dicky my senior year of high school (he had just released his debut album). He was a U of R alum, and I knew a two other people from my hometown who were enrolled at Richmond. So, I put together an application for what in hindsight was no real reason other than I knew some people who went there. I got accepted in March of April of my senior year. I had been rejected from most of the other schools I applied to regular decision, so my options were cut down to two schools: Boston University or the University of Richmond. I visited Richmond over spring break, liked the campus, and paid my deposit after a tour and a meal at D-Hall.<\/p>\n
There wasn\u2019t one thing in particular that made me choose UR over BU. My mom had gone to BU and hated it, so that probably left a sour taste in my mouth. I also didn\u2019t want to be another student in a massive crowd. UR\u2019s small classes made me feel assured that I could get to know my professors and fellow students. I liked the liberal arts appeal of Richmond, too. I knew I wanted to be some sort of political mastermind, but I didn\u2019t know where to start. \u201cBroad\u201d was my best friend, and I took courses all over the subject map my Freshman year.<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t happy at Richmond, however, and want to make that clear. I will note too, that I won\u2019t sugarcoat how I feel about U of R. I thought about transferring many times. I had applications lined up for music colleges or really anywhere else. I didn\u2019t feel like I belonged. I felt uncomfortable. I only liked the frisbee team and didn\u2019t have many close friends in my grade. The friends I had towards the end of fall semester into spring all rushed different fraternities and we stopped talking. I joined a fraternity too, not because, once again, I had planned for it, but it just worked out to be practically beneficial. I liked most of the brothers, I was involved in similar activities as them, and it just made sense as a male on the Richmond campus. I am not \u201cfrat,\u201d I don\u2019t love fraternity life or culture, but I\u2019m ultimately happy with my decision to join.<\/p>\n
Freshman year turned to sophomore fall, which, after some broken bones and mental breakdowns, turned to junior year. My junior year fall was by far the hardest semester to date. I had a lot going on in my personal life that made schoolwork extremely hard. I did not go abroad, and had a little FOMO for sure. However, I didn\u2019t regret my decision to stay in Richmond. I wanted to be closer to my family, for I didn\u2019t know if we\u2019d be moving at the end of the year. It didn\u2019t feel right to be wasting time in Prague drinking my way through Europe (I believe this is the \u201cuntold story\u201d of juniors that go abroad) while my mom was in Connecticut thinking about moving. There were benefits to staying in Richmond, too. I had a lot of time to sit in my thoughts, and got a better sense of self. I got closer with my sophomore and senior friends as well which was really nice. That being said, I determined I wanted to go abroad in some capacity at some point in my life. The problem I faced was the cost, as well as the lack-of-knowledge of where to go, what to do, how to do it, etc. Enter Dr. Datta and Dean Merritt.<\/p>\n
Encompass seemed like the program I was waiting for: funded by the school, guided by professors, to a country I had never been to. I applied, once again, on a whim. I did my best to put together a good application. I didn\u2019t tell my parents until I got the offer. They supported me and I started to get excited. Then the logistical information got delivered and I got a little less excited. The 24 hours of travel was not ideal. I dreaded it through the whole build up to the trip, and it was exactly what I expected. It took a toll on my body, especially the day after I returned from frisbee nationals in Texas. The heat down south prepared me well for Thailand, but my body was so, unbelievably tired from the travel. I\u2019m here now, though, in one piece, enjoying some mid-day tea.<\/p>\n
This post turned in to something a little bit longer than I originally had expected, so if you got down to this part, congratulations. The next string of entries will be less about me and more about the trip. As it stands, I love Thailand. The food is incredible and the city itself is really interesting; it\u2019s extremely fast-paced and diverse. The people here are extremely respectful as well. I\u2019m not scared to walk down the street, though I am cautious of the motorbikes. The drivers will just turn wherever they see a gap, which could be in the four-foot space in between you and the curb. Crossing the street in Bangkok is like Carytown on steroids. You just kind of step out and hope for the best. Now that I think of it, my journey to this point today has really been like crossing the street in Thailand. It was not something where I looked both ways like I was supposed to. I didn\u2019t \u201clook both ways,\u201d I crossed when I saw an opening and hoped for the best. The metaphor is a little bit crude and in all honesty probably isn\u2019t the best. I like it, and its my blog post, so it stays in the blog post.<\/p>\n
Thanks,<\/p>\n
Chris<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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