Final Post

It's hard to believe that it has already been over a month since the outbreak hit and all university campuses shut down.  While our freshman year at Northeastern hasn't been considered normal, it certainly has been an interesting journey.  From our humble beginning in Thessaloniki to our eventual demise in Boston.  Looking back, I've certainly had a number of amazing memories and met some incredible people.  Even though I didn't want to initially start my first semester abroad, I ended up having a unique and fun experience that few others will have the opportunity to have.  The fact that next year the NUin program will only be comprised of four locations, including NUin Boston, makes me even more grateful for having the opportunity to study in Greece.  My favorite part about studying in Thessaloniki had to be meeting new people.  I met a lot of locals when I was going to visit all of the local gyms which taught me a valuable lesson in making friends and having connections.  For example, I got into contact with a local weightlifting enthusiast just to ask about places to train in Greece.  From that encounter, he put me into contact with the Greek weightlifting federation and I was able to both meet and train with the Olympic silver medalist from the 1996 Atlanta Games (he lost to the number one pound for pound weightlifter [in history!] by only a few kilos).  His name was Valerios Leonidis (if you want to google him).  The other Greek weightlifting athletes were there as well.  Obviously, I was extremely out of my league and felt out of place but everybody was so supportive.  After coming back to Boston, Northeastern was much more difficult but also more enjoyable.  There were opportunities to explore and so many more people to meet.  I tried out for the club baseball team, competed in a weightlifting meet, and learned how to (somewhat) skate.  I also loved how the health science kids that came back from NUin became closer than most majors.  Since we all shared the same classes and were a semester behind, being friends definitely helped all of us.  Out of all of these experiences in our first year, I'd say I learned to become more appreciative of certain things and to be more assertive.  You never really know how long you have with things such as school, friends, etc.  Since time is limited, you should make the most with time you have.