My final blogpost...

Overall, I think it’s safe to say that this year will be extremely memorable for all of us. This school year started off being stuck at home with nothing to do besides work. This is because Greece was scheduled to depart later than all the other programs. So, my semester kind of went full circle in that sense.

My first semester of college started off in a foreign country. I didn’t know anyone at first and I was really scared, but it was the best three months of my life. I will never forget the memories we made while in Thessaloniki, Greece. I challenged myself academically while also traveling all over Europe. Although I have traveled to parts of Europe before, this was completely different. It was my first real sense of independence. Not only did we see the most beautiful cities, but we also saw many realities of these countries that aren’t highlighted. In Paris, my close friend got his phone stolen out of his hand on the metro. Before the doors closed, we began chasing after the group of men (probably not one of our smartest ideas because who knows what they could have done to us). However, our chase ended up being successful and all the strangers around us helped. This was a very eye opening experience because it really showed me that now we are adults and we need to learn how to handle all of the situations that arose while traveling. Along with independence, I learned the Greek way of life, halara. This new approach to life has kept me focused on living in the present and not stressing. I have incorporated this new lifestyle into my life in America because I really have noticed its benefits. In Greece, I built the closest friendships that I hope to have for the rest of my life. I feel that we became close so quickly because we all had almost the same school schedules, we ate dinner together in the Olga dining hall every night, and we traveled to new places together. We were always exploring and experiencing things together. I am so grateful that we were able to have our complete semester abroad and create all of these unforgettable memories.

Another memory I will never forget is when we had a mouse in 10 Coventry. It was probably one of the most traumatizing things, but of course I am overly dramatic. Looking back at it now, it was a really funny way to bond with all my roommates. We were close before, but now we have a lasting joke about that mouse being in our apartment. I was so beyond lucky to end up with my three best friends for my roommates. We had weekly rice and bean nights for dinner because one of our roommates was Brazilian. On Saturday mornings, we alternated who would make breakfast for the whole apartment. We always had amazing meals like pancakes, poached eggs on avocado toast, or sometimes we would go out to breakfast. It was very important to us to find time when we could all be together with our busy schedules. One of the things I miss the most since I have been home is living with these three girls. We never had a dull moment together and, shockingly, we also never had any drama. It was always smooth sailing.

One of my favorite memories was when we had a Superbowl party. We invited a bunch of friends over and cooked nachos. Before the game started we set up the projector so everyone could see. It was a really fun experience for me because I was able to share it with all the international students that have never watched the Superbowl before. I loved explaining to them what was happening. They actually got really into the game. It was a very fun night with a lot of shouting and screaming.

Professor Stockman, thank you so much for letting us write these blog posts every week. I loved being able to express my emotions through writing. In my recent years of English, we lacked creative assignments. It was all analytical and I really thought I no longer had any passion or creativity to write, but you have really helped me find that passion again. I really have enjoyed this class, thank you for being a great professor.