Home, Sweet Home
I remember when I first arrived at Vanderbilt as a freshman for the Fall 2009 semester talking about “home.” However, soon enough, home no longer meant Bloomington, IN…instead it meant North House, sophomore year it meant Mayfield 10, and this past semester it meant Lewis 709. I moved out of Lewis yesterday, and now home means home again. Because this time when I leave I’m going to a foreign country.
Yesterday, my dad picked me up from Vanderbilt, my home for the past 2 and a half years, and I said my final goodbyes to MRB 3 (where I work in a structural biology lab), to the Student Recreation Center (where I climb and belay people up a climbing wall), to the libraries (where I’ve studied endlessly for exams), and to all the wonderful places to eat on campus.
Most bittersweet were the goodbyes to friends. One of my roommates will be studying abroad in Barcelona, a mere 10 Euro bus ride from my program in Aix-en-Provence…but some of my friends I may not see for a very long time. There are those who will be studying abroad when I return for the Fall 2012 semester. Others are seniors and will graduate and leave before I return to the States.
It’s bittersweet, but it’s also exciting. I can’t wait to go abroad and travel around Europe. I can’t wait to eat French breads and cheeses, and I can’t wait to send postcards to all of my friends and families from all of the places I travel to.