Before the Summer and Sea

To those who may know me and to those who have yet to know who I am,

This is my first blog entry into a journey which will hopefully define and re-defined my life in many ways, shapes, and forms. My name is Carter English. I am a third year college student at University of California- San Diego. I am majoring in Human Biology with the into for Pre-Med. I am a native of California and lived most of my life within the suburbs of Los Angeles in the City of Calabasas. Currently my parents have sold our house in Calabasas after their divorce and I am now residing in a crappy, broken down town house with my two great roommates and friends (Mike and Noah) near the UCSD campus. To those who may know me from High School or Middle School, you might have know me for being the kid who studied too much or may be the guy who was really nice. A lot has changed from those times, but I ironically still over study to a large extreme and still am nice when people don't immediately judge me by first impressions. But enough with that stuff, lets get to the core of why I am doing this blog in the first place. Back when I was just a wee little kid around the age of 8 years old, my father told me how he went on a journey abroad in college that forever changed his life and his outlook on the world. He told me how he will never forget the experiences and friends he made during his journey and how his time abroad truly defined the best times of his college years. This journey he made was Semester at Sea. Ever since he told me about this program, I have been interested in going abroad when in college, whether it was SAS or another program. I received a taste of the travel bug when I went on a family trip across Greece, Italy, and England through the Stanford Family Program during my sophomore year of high school. It was experience which in the end made me want to experience more of the world. When I began college, I was suddenly shocked to discover the difficulty of going abroad as a student whose dream is to become a successful doctor who will hopefully make an impact with the people he meets. In the process of going pre-med, I got lost in the competitive nature of the UCSD biology curriculum and began to forget my dreams to go around the world while I was in college. While cramming for exams and focusing only on grades during my first year in college, I almost forgot the true nature of why I went to college: to make a difference in this world and help/make an impact for those who are in need and learn as much as possible to get there. (I know it sounds a bit cliche and idealistic, but I still believe in this today). While I still was doing well in school during my sophomore year, I began to realize there was something missing to this "whole" college experience I was expecting to have. I realized there was many things at UCSD I wanted to do, but the academic atmosphere kind of bound me to focus deeply on my studies. That was until the end of my sophomore year in college when I re-found my love, hope, and aspirations to travel the world and hopefully make a difference so way or another on the way. I finally found what I was lacking during my entire time at college, that experience my Dad had talked about almost crazily years and years ago. I wanted something that re-defined myself into a more global, caring, and better human being. I wanted something that I could be proud of that was aside from academics and social experiences within UCSD. I wanted something that would truly change my life and my outlook on the world. I wanted to see how I can realistically make a difference in this world in accordance to my dream of becoming an M.D. I needed to go on Semester at Sea. Personally, I don't give a damn if it costs a crap load or that I might not finish college in 4 years or that I am taking a year off from school before I hopefully go to Med. school. This experience is important to give up. It's an offer I can't refuse (I know very cheesy but I had to say it...lol). So, that is how I came to go on Semester at Sea in Fall 09. This year has been a tough one for me for many reasons that are too cumbersome to talk on this page and a lot has changed in my life this year as well. But really, it can all go on the back burner. No regrets and no worries anymore. I'm friggin GOING ON SEMESTER AT SEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited right now. Here are the locations that I am going on

Fall 2009 Voyage Ports:
- Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Cadiz, Spain
- Casablanca, Morocco
- Accra, Ghana
- Cape Town, South Africa
- Port Louis, Mauritius
- Chennai, India
- Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
- Hong Kong
- Shanghai, China
- Kobe / Yokohama, Japan
- Honolulu / Hilo, Hawaii
- San Diego, CA (So cool how I don't have to fly back home lol)

I am already hoping to plan on going to Barcelona while in Spain, Sleep on the Great Wall of China, Go Shark Diving, Go to Cambodia and get three classy business suits for dirt cheap in Vietnam, and hopefully find service opportunities for many of the countries in my spare time at port. I know I may have to cut it down a bit. But I can wait during summer.

This Summer after school ends, I am intending to take OChem Lab in Summer School in hopes to possibly still finish in four, finish a research paper in a lab I will have been working in for over a year, learn how to scuba dive, workout at the gym to regain the muscle mass I have lost from an intense academic year,and plan as much as possible while on SAS that's within my budget.

Late August is when the journey really starts to begin.......