No matter where you travel with GoGlobal, our programs will push you outside of your comfort zone and challenge you to achieve your full potential. Mary Claire Shulstad, a junior at the University of Alabama, shares her powerful experience after taking the leap into the Corinth Canal!
Although I am not the first GoGlobal student to talk about their bungee jumping experience, I want to talk about it in a little different way. As we all stepped up to get strapped in to make the leap of a lifetime, our wonderful intern told us to “leave it all on the bridge.” She explained to us that we should all close our eyes, think of everything that is a burden, or that is weighing heavy on hearts, and to leave all of it on the bridge when we jumped. When it came to be my turn, I stepped to the edge of the platform and looked out. In front of me there was one of the most breathtaking views I have ever had the privilege of seeing. But before I jumped, I looked down and saw my Crimson Tide jersey and my gold bar necklace with the coordinates of Charlotte, NC. In my head I just smiled because I knew that I was about to make the biggest leap of my life, yet at the same time I was taking the biggest parts of my heart with me.
Then I jumped.
As I wrote in my personal blog, I will never be able to accurately explain how incredible that jump was. I think my jump, and doing it in my necklace and jersey, is a perfect example of what I have learned on this trip and how I’ve grown. This trip has given me wings. It has shown me that I have more potential than I ever knew and that I am a powerful, important person whose ideas and passions will benefit the world. It has shown me that this world has so much to offer, and that I need to spread my wings and see as much of it as I can. It has also increased my gratitude for my roots so much more than I ever thought possible. Thank you to my parents, my family and my friends, for giving me homes full of love both in Charlotte and in Tuscaloosa; and thank you to GoGlobal for giving me a new home and family I never knew I needed.
