God and His Neon Signs

"There may never be a sign, no flashing neon light, telling you to make your move, or when the time is right."--Hilary Duff, "Why Not"

Sorry Hil, but this time I'm very happy to prove you wrong.

First, I want to share this picture:

It was one of many Tumblr pictures I had saved to my phone about three years ago. I had dozens of other sightseeing pics saved to inspire me to travel the world someday, but this had stuck out as my favorite. It reminded me of the tree gateway Aslan created at the end of the Prince Caspian film, and that scene is still one of the few film clips that can make me cry. Every. Darn. Time. Anyway, I loved the idea of this gate opening up to the ocean and the mountains beyond. To me, it was completely otherworldly and fantastic. The sad thing is, when I found it on Tumblr, it was never captioned, so I had no idea where it was. I actually thought it didn't even exist, that it was from a movie set, or Photoshopped.

Second, I want to share my current situation:

About a month ago, my friend Pilar told me about this liberal arts college in Europe that she was applying to. I looked it up, found out they had a history major, and fell in love with the idea of applying there next year. I was feeling really certain of my decision, until sem break ended and I found myself back in Ateneo. I started feeling like I didn't want to give up my Ateneo experience just yet. But I also knew that I've dreamt of studying abroad ever since I was a wee 10-year-old devouring the S.A.S.S. novel series (Students Across the Seven Seas). So I felt myself pulled in two completely opposite directions.

Then yesterday, I decided it was time for a change in my desktop wallpaper. I decided to look up Lugano, the town in Switzerland the college was located. This photo popped up.

Needless to say, my jaw dropped. This is the sign I've been waiting for to go full speed ahead and not look back. Thank you, God.