A Semester to Remember

Oh wow, where do I begin? It’s so funny to go back and reread my first blog post and to see how scared I was. I remember those feelings of anxiety and fear, but they feel so far away. I read that and I don’t recognize the words. What I felt then and what I feel right now is so polar opposite.

How do I feel now? I feel sad, sad that I have to leave this beautiful country, sad I have to leave this school which is full of people I have grown to love, sad that I have to leave this culture and the Italian people who have shown me so much acceptance and warmth from the moment I stepped off the plane. Pure and utter sadness.

Yeah, the traveling was amazing, getting to explore places that I’ve only ever seen in pictures, places I never actually believed I would see with my own two eyes. However, what I have grown to love the most is the person I have become while I have been here. I have taken risks, I have traveled alone, I have made life-long friends with whom I share unforgettable memories. I have become a version of myself that I know the 13-year old me would look up to.

Younger me was afraid of the unknown and all that hid within it. She refused to stray from what was in front of her, no matter what lay on the path ahead. Once I got to college, I knew I needed to change, but I didn’t know how to go about doing that. And then studying abroad came to me, and I seized the opportunity with open arms, fully aware that I was diving right into that unknown that I have always been so afraid of.

And here I am, four months later and a complete different person. Someone who is happier, healthier, and above all, wiser. I am distraught that it is all over, but the passion for adventure and the drive to continue bettering myself will never end.

And now, a few of my favorite memories…

 

 

 

 

And with that, I am signing out. I hope you have enjoyed following my journey, and I hope I have inspired you in some way to seek your own adventures, whatever those may be. Do not let fear hold you back from finding happiness!

Arrivederci!!! <3 <3