"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Enthusiasm, defined as intense and eager enjoyment.

One of the greatest opportunities AFS has given me thus far, has been the chance to meet other people beginning on this journey as well. Through facebook, I have been lucky enough to meet dozens of other AFSers embarking on a journey quite similar to mine. We have been able to share our concerns, fears, new information, stories, and most of all our enthusiasm. I have one friend in particular, Erinn, who I am sure you will be hearing a lot more of. Erinn and I already have a lot in common, and especially with this whole Spain thing. We have both been taking Spanish since elementary school, we were both accepted on the same day, we both have sisters, do multiple sports, and coincidently enough both of our names end with two letters (meGG, eriNN). It doesn’t seem like a lot, but we talk to each other everyday, and as if we have known each other our whole lives. Our enthusiasm, and our love of travel and the unknown has brought us together, and almost immediately. We exchanged a few facebook messages, and became instant friends. Our "intense enjoyment" is exchanged everyday, whether we are talking about summer school, host families, or just our regular American lives. And the enthusiasm continues even on the most uneventful days. That's the spirit that will get us through the next year, that will keep us going through the worst and the best of our times there. Erinn's spirit and enthusiasm inspires me everyday, encourages me to continue along as we inch closer and closer to the beginning of our adventure. We have begun a friendship, something great, that I know will last a lifetime.