It’s March and things are about to pick up speed.

I just participated in my first discussion on D2L about who I am and why I’m going to Nicaragua, and I have another assignment due by the end of the week.

But that’s not all. At the end of this week, I will have completed two extremely important things in order to board the plane come June: My application for a passport and a four-hour orientation Saturday morning.

In order for me to get my passport, however, I need my birth certificate. And, like most college students, I don’t have one just lying around in my room, so the next logical thing was to go back home for a good home-cooked meal or two and my certificate.

This past weekend, I drove down to Madison to do just that. I left Sunday night with the certificate, along with a 5-by-7 size photo of my drivers license — two things I need to finally apply for my passport.

While I’m not excited to go into the post office early Thursday morning to turn in paperwork and get my passport photo taken, I know I’ll walk out with a huge weight lifted from my shoulders. It’ll be one more thing to cross off my (late) checklist.

Like I mentioned earlier, I’ve been meeting fellow classmates via D2L as they introduce themselves in our discussion. Because we have a mandatory orientation Saturday, I’m excited to put faces to names and meet everyone I’ll spend the three weeks with.

I’m going to learn a lot more about my trip, such as flight arrangements, my host family and what we’re going to do the entire time we’re there.

The reality of this trip is about to set in. This whole time, I’ve liked to think traveling to Nicaragua is a dream. I’ve never gone out of the country before, so it’s hard to imagine it. To me, it seems so out of reach, so unattainable. Maybe after this weekend, I’ll feel differently.

To say I’m both excited and nervous about the next few days is quite possibly the understatement of the century.