Edinburgh, Harry Potter, and pushing myself
When people talk about their study abroad experiences, a common theme I’ve noticed is how much they were able to grow by getting out of their comfort zone. At first, I thought that I would have to leap out of my comfort zone to gain this perspective, but now I realize it doesn’t happen all at once. Over time, you start to slowly get out of your comfort zone--or in this case ~climb~ out of my comfort zone.
I’ve never been that much of an outdoors person. I spent most of my childhood and teenage years inside, in a ballet studio, dancing about 20-30 hours a week. So, when my friends said that they wanted to do a hike, I was skeptical. Arthur's seat was at the top of a lot of travel lists for Edinburgh-- so I figured why not. We chose a fairly simple path since we had mixed levels of hiking experience. Looking up at the top I wasn’t sure how far I would get.
As we went up the mountain, I kept telling myself that the incredible view of the whole city would be worth it. And you can bet it was. Looking out at the Holyrood Palace (where Queen Elizabeth II stays in the summer for a week) and the whole city was breathtaking. I found it funny that I, the person who doesn’t really like bugs or camping was just standing there, in awe of nature, and in awe of the new ways that I am pushing myself. I think that the experience of traveling causes you to push yourself because you have to. I would never have gotten the best view if I had stayed at the bottom because I didn’t know if I could do it. I always say that if I think I might regret something, I need to be doing it already. I thought I might regret not going up there, and so I climbed up.
..."in awe of the new ways that I am pushing myself"
Afterward,we walked back down and headed towards the bus station. Delaney, Mackenzie, and Erin went to take the bus back to Glasgow and I went off on my own to go to Elephant House--where JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter. During my walk there, I heard a family behind me. The daughter asked her dad, “Can you tell me about Harry Potter?” He laughed, and said, “There’s too much to tell.” Growing up, Harry Potter had a substantial impact on my childhood. It was the book series that my best friend and I would read on the bus together, splitting the book in half so we could each read the different sections of the book we were on. It was the series that had me, my mom, and my sister waiting in line outside of the local bookstore at midnight because we wanted to be some of the first to read the newest book. So, going to the birthplace of Harry Potter was on my “I can’t leave Edinburgh without seeing it” list. Once I got there, I ordered a coffee, sat down, opened my journal, and started writing. There was something ~magical~ about journaling at the birthplace of Harry Potter.
I left the Elephant House and started going towards the bus station. Anyone who knows me knows that I am always a woman with a plan. At CNU, I often had basically every hour of my day planned out. So, for me to not have a bus ticket booked for the way back to Glasgow and to just show up at the bus station was a big deal for me.
Granted, buses run from Edinburgh to Glasgow about every 15 minutes, so I knew I could get home. But still, I count that as a win in my books. I got on that bus and headed back to Glasgow. I was proud of the small ways that I had pushed myself and promised myself that I would keep pushing my way out of my comfort zone.
