Written on Sept. 2023 on a train somewhere between Naples and Rome.

The graduate school application on my desktop computer is closed, but the imagined experience of attending the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Bra, Italy is alive and breathing fire in my stomach, taunting me. I’ve attempted to complete the application since 2019, freshly plucked from undergraduate life, each year an excuse bubbling up and keeping me from clicking “submit”.

Transcripts collected, recommendations secured, pages and pages of thoughtfulness strewn out, my innermost dreams plucked from my consciousness and formed into sentences and paragraphs explaining why a year of studying anthropology through the lens of sustainable food systems is the logical next step in my journey. 

Excitement looms, disappointment settles, and anxiousness bubbles up. What about my “safe” career in private equity? What about our two kitties? My home and mortgage in Chicago? The love of my life, although willing and eager to join me for a year in the Piemontese hills, is amidst a career just taking flight?

Fear reigns, seemingly overtaking my agency. What if I actually followed my dreams? Would I be doomed to a life of catching up monetarily and emotionally? 

I peer out the window at the Italian landscape and feel the varied sensations within, the Frecciarossa piercing through the countryside like a hot knife through butter. 

Yet, what if this is the best decision I could ever make in my life? What if anxiety transmutes into… excitement?

A journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step – and I know that my life journey will not be spent in a cubicle selling private equity to pension plans. My life will be rich in ‘benessere’ through an industriousness and adventurous approach; challenging, full of learning, trying and failing, and testing my limits. Most of all, it will be MY journey.

Outside the fear of judgments of others and obstacles that lie ahead comes true freedom. 

I turn 27 in just over a week. What will this next year look like? Preparing for the next step in my journey: marriage to my life partner, attending the University I’ve been eager to jump into for 5 years, and experiencing dreams becoming reality. 

Lean into the fear.