When is the best time to do something? Tomorrow? A week, a month, or a year? This is the question that circled my head like a hurricane as I was being accepted by People to People to be a Student Ambassador. I would be traveling to Australia in the summer of 2010 to travel, study in Australia, and feel the joy of cultural discovery. The only problem is this program comes with a hefty price tag. This “Journey of a Lifetime” will cost my family and I 6,000ish for me to go on. Naturally, many questions ran through my head. “Can I really do this?”, “How are you going to raise that much money when you live with your retired grandparents?” Then I stopped …took a deep breath and asked myself the most simple and logical question, the one I live my life by. “What do you want to do?” Of course, my answer was, “Hell yeah, I want to go to Australia!”

Over the course of my life I have learned the best time to do anything is now. A great man once said, “The only thing a man regrets doing, is the things he didn’t do.” Why should I limit my experience in life because of money? Money is by no means something that tells you whether or not you can do something. I don’t care if I live with my grandparents who live on a fixed income; I’m still going to try. The only thing that ever puts a barrier between you and your goal is you. If you want something, and you believe in yourself, you are going to get it. This is the way I live my life, and so far it has worked out incredibly well. I want to have good grades, I got good grades. I want to learn to play guitar, I learned to play guitar. I want an attractive girlfriend, I have an attractive girlfriend. Why is going to Australia and different?

I realize that belief alone is not going to pay for my plane ticket to Australia, but without belief nothing would happen. I am going to have to go the extra mile for this to become reality. 6,000sih is not an easy sum of money to meet and I will have to work very diligently to attain it. However, I already have some great ideas such as a holiday fundraiser, a garage sale, and being sponsored to run at a local race. I have a great deal of work to do in the coming months, but think of how much I already done. I received good grades my entire life for this opportunity to be possible. I was also put through a rigorous interview process of two hundred people and was chosen to be one of the forty Student Ambassadors. I am proud of myself and I believe the hardest part of my journey is already complete.

When I complete my goal, I know I will feel a great sensation of accomplishment. I will go on the journey of a lifetime. I will learn about different cultures of the world, a different government, and become an improved citizen to my own country. More importantly, I will reinforce my belief that anything I desire is an arms reach away, from a job, to college, and even my career. I will not put boundaries on my life because the best time to do anything is now.