bracelets.

Bracelets are kind of like memories you can carry on your arm. Now I am not talking about fancy gold chains or Tiffany heart bracelets, I am talking about the little braided ones, sometimes hemp, sometimes string. Bracelets that carry meaning, even if they are a little piece of string, or a twisted part of a handkerchief. For the past year, my best friend Katelyn and I have worn matching "friendship" bracelets on our left arm. Even though it may seem cliche, this friendship bracelet holds powerful meaning to me.

We found this bracelet at a kids carnival. I know you're thinking, "really? A kids carnival?" Well one Saturday during last Spring semester my Business Communications professor at Elon told us we could come help out at her kids' school carnival for extra credit. This was the only free weekend Katelyn could come visit me, so I asked my professor if she could come help out too. So being the amazing friend she is, Katelyn came to the carnival with me and was a great sport the whole time. So at the end of the carnival we rummaged through the prize bucket and came across these multicolored bracelets and immediately looked at each other and said "dude, lets wear these for a long time!"

Needless to say, I am still wearing it today and have yet to take it off once. Regardless of its monetary and physical insignificance, this bracelet means a lot to me. Wherever I am, I can look at it and think of the wonderful friendship I have with Katelyn and all of the great memories we have shared.

So what do these bracelets have to do with studying abroad at all?? Well, I heard once that a girl who studied abroad tried to collect a bracelet from every country she visited, so by the time she was coming home, she had a ton of bracelets on her arm, signifying her travels. So this is definitely going to be one of my goals in the next four months! Katelyn got me started out right with my first bracelet with a peace sign on it so any time I feel uneasy, I can look at it and be reminded of all the great things in my life!

Here is a picture of my starting point. I can't wait to add more bracelets to my arm and more memories to carry with me :)