Before moving into their freshman dorm, most college students are already dreaming about their senior year.
Your final year in college is the last few months before you start the rest of your life.
Otherwise known as the “real world,” the rest of your life entails having to do adult things like work and pay bills — all the things required and expected of a responsible post-college human being.
I didn’t move back to Chapel Hill this August. While my friends from school were packing their cars for their next to last semester of the college life, I got in my Jeep and drove to Uptown New Orleans to move in with my 29-year-old brother and my sister-in-law.
Only having one Spanish class left to finish my double major in public policy and Spanish, last spring I decided to forego the fall semester of my senior year at Carolina to instead take on an internship.
Having visited my brother and my sister-in-law in New Orleans for a week last Christmas break and loving the city, I discussed the possibility with the pair of withdrawing from college for a semester to live with them while taking on an internship.
They liked my pitch, so I went online and quickly came across the Young Leadership Council, a nonprofit civic organization developed to foster leadership in the New Orleans area.
After learning more about this group, I applied, was interviewed and happily accepted an intern position with their office this fall.
I know that New Orleans will be great — the city is so alive. When most people hear “New Orleans,” they think of Katrina and Bourbon Street instead of how interesting the city is, with all of its uniqueness in both people and place.
There’s just so much to do here, no matter your interests.
There are political organizations with interest meetings and opportunities for active involvement everywhere you turn; Cajun food is absolutely amazing; and if I was in town two weeks earlier, I would have seen midgets dressed up as Oompa-Loompas dance onstage and a band’s performance at Republic, a club in the Warehouse District.
You really can’t beat that.
Furthermore, there are great coffee shops on every corner of the city; the Young Leadership Council and other nonprofits offer ample opportunities to make a positive difference in the community; and local bands and big names alike play at various bars and clubs nearly every night of every week.
It’s exciting to move to a city that you know little about and have the opportunity to explore.
Spending four months in Spain last fall changed the way that I viewed many issues by coercing me to think about things on a broader scale.
It’s easier to focus on the “big picture” rather than small daily setbacks when you realize how much else is out there in the world.
I think my time in New Orleans will have a similar effect on the way I approach situations because it will add to my bank of experiences in a similar manner.
For that reason, among others, I think that I made the right decision by taking a semester off from UNC to move to New Orleans for an internship.
Lea Luquire is a senior spanish major from Yancyville. Contact her at llea@email.unc.edu.
