New Year, New Adventure

Hola! My name is Karen Hudson and I’m a student at The University of Oklahoma. I’m a broadcast journalism major in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication. I plan to graduate in May 2011 and embark on a career of traveling all over the world like Anderson Cooper.

When I first heard about the study abroad trip to Puerto Rico, I immediately went to Google. It only took one picture to convince me that spending winter break at the beach was a much better option than dealing with this, even if it meant that I wouldn’t be able to watch my beloved Sooner football team play in their bowl game.



I’m excited to share my experience on this blog since it would have been absolutely impossible to make it through airport security with the number of people who threatened to hide in my suitcase. I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures in the beautiful place known as the Island of Enchantment.

My first post is my interest essay that I submitted for entrance into the class. I hope it gives you more insight about me and my love of adventure and travel.

"Adventure can be a real happiness.” I never thought I'd find wisdom in a fortune cookie but this one spoke to me. It has been taped to my laptop since the day I read it. My New Year's resolution last year was to live a life with more adventure; instead of finding reasons why I shouldn't do something, I shifted my thinking to find the reasons why I should do something. The travel writing trip to Puerto Rico is the perfect combination of things I love: adventure, travel, and learning. I have an insatiable curiosity about everything, especially the world around me.

Although I am from a multi-cultural background, my opportunities for travel have been limited. My parents say that I visited my mother's home country of Japan several times as a baby, but I don't remember anything about it. We have pictures but I don't have any memories. I'm ready for a trip that I will remember. I studied Spanish for three semesters, and while I enjoyed learning how to converse with native speakers, I loved learning about the cultures even more.

The first time I heard about the travel writing trip to Puerto Rico, I knew that it was something that I had to do. I'm a journalism major who hopes to one day travel around the world as an international correspondent. Puerto Rico, with its rich history and stunning landscapes will be an amazing place to begin my travels.

I believe that study abroad is a vital experience that all college students must have. We can study textbooks and read about other countries, but we can't truly understand what it feels like to walk on the soil or breathe the air unless we go there. I'm looking forward to having experiences that I could never have in Oklahoma. Let the adventure begin!