As some of you know, my son, Tyler (13), is a People to People Student Ambassador and will be leaving on Wednesday for a 20-day trip to six countries in Europe: Ireland, Wales, England, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

As excited as he is to go, there is also quite a bit of evident trepidation at the thought of being away not only from home, but from the U.S. for such a length of time without any friends or family along for the adventure.

I remember similar feelings when I was 13, though the cause was different: we were moving away from the only town I remembered living in, all of my friends, and what I thought to be my plan for the future. It was all up in the air, suddenly. All the “knowns” were suddenly irrelevant and not applicable, and all I was left with were the “unknowns”.

It’s a heck of a paradox, at that age, to find the rug of all your “knowns” pulled out from under you, but 30 years later, I know that it won’t be the last time it happens to him.

No wonder all the alumni of the Student Ambassador program tell me the kids come back from their trips noticeably more mature than when they left.