People to People, which has always been and will continue to be one of the most respectable and opportunity-filled programs available to children and teenagers, is well known for one thing: installing hope and a worldly sense into those participating.

Started on Sept. 11, 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s plan was to unite the children of the world by opening it to international students in the hopes to help move our journey to world peace along. Since its founding, nearly half a million students, adults and athletes have participated in the program. Countries most often visited by the program include Germany, France, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Italy, Greece, Fiji, the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom and Russia.

On June 18, I will be leaving our beautiful town and heading to the airport, where I will board a plane going to Edinburgh, Scotland, where my first order of business will be to walk the Royal Mile. The name of the program I’ll be traveling in is called “Celtic Cultures,” which of course speaks for itself. For 21 days, I will be traveling around England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales with a group of 30 to 40 other students, most that I’ve never met before.

The entire experience will be riveting, I’m sure of it. Yet, even through the excitement of the unknown, I find myself harboring fears. During my stay in Dublin, Ireland, I will be doing something called a “homestay,” in which I live with a family native to Dublin for three days. Anything they do, I do. The question lingers in the back of my mind daily: what if they don’t like me? What if we share views that are the polar opposite of the others? Most importantly, what if they make me go to school?

Admittedly, however, my fears have yet to overwhelm my excitement. The idea of traveling the world alone has always appealed to me, and even though I won’t technically be completely alone, I will be without my family for an extended amount of time in places that I’ve never been before. While petrifying to some, if I were to get paid to do anything in the world, it would be without a doubt to travel. While where I’m traveling misses the charm and closeness of little Washington, I must admit that I’m excited to see new things, try new things and learn new ideas from the people who I’m traveling with and locals alike.

Now only a few days from my trip, the rush of emotion grows, and I’m starting to want to leave as soon as possible due to all of the things I will be experiencing. Who knows, maybe one day another Student Ambassador will be writing from the Washington Daily News, describing their trip that I helped to spark interest in.

Abby Harris is a rising sophomore at Washington High School.