Breathe in the familiar air of confusion and chaos*

Adam Gonzalez, Harlingen

I didn’t sleep last night in anticipation of the voyage to come. It took 15.3245817365 hours to pack which is 15.3245817364 hours longer than it usually takes me. My mind has been filled with “did I pack my toothbrush”…”where’s my good underwear”. I had no idea how ponderous the preparations are for an international journey; and that was just the menial details. The man hours put in by a great many individuals must be astronomical. Yet, as I sit in the George Bush Houston International Airport, I am surrounded by the overwhelming white squall of emotions; fear…anxiousness… wide eyed wonder! After an uneventful night spent in front of my TV, my parents and I rushed to the UTB/TSC campus to meet the rest of the group. The rest of the day has been spent racing through gargantuan airports, catching buses and biding through TSA security. This is the first chance that I’ve had to reflect and catch my breath. Now that my psyche has caught up with my body, I reflect upon what I leave behind. I leave behind my homework…my home…and the world as I once knew it. This is the first time that I am traveling abroad. Words fall short to express the experience of such a trip. An unintentionally provincial life was my lot until college. My father was a mechanic and my mother had an unofficial home business as day-time child care taker. One might consider me a write off with no exceptional connections or bank accounts to speak of. It was financial aid, and perseverance on my part, that took me to the University of North Texas. My time at the University of North Texas was paramount to my training as a musician…and now at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College I have been given the opportunity to tour Italy with the UTB/TSC Master Chorale. What lies ahead waits to be found.

* "Give Me Your Eyes,” by Brandon Heath