One hun­dred and fifty years ago, it was cus­tom­ary for wealthy post-adolescents to fin­ish their edu­ca­tion with a Grand Tour of Europe, com­prised of extended vis­its to the most fash­ion­able cities, such as Paris and Lon­don, along with edu­ca­tional tours of reknowned his­tor­i­cal sites. These tours lasted months, or years, and were con­sid­ered nec­es­sary to a well-rounded aris­to­cratic education.

Take away all the trap­pings of wealth and excess and I’ve stum­bled into an oppor­tu­nity to round out my edu­ca­tion with a semes­ter abroad at The Aegean Cen­ter for the Fine Arts. In the next four months, I’ll be trav­el­ling across Europe, study­ing art and art his­tory, paint­ing and pho­tog­ra­phy, and doc­u­ment­ing my efforts here at Brianna.org. This is a dream come true, the chance of a life­time, and all the other phrases that apply when you find your­self liv­ing a life that you didn’t think was in the realm of possibility.

I leave for Lon­don in three hours. Here I am, and there I go.