Last week, I began my final semester at Universität Tübingen in Tübingen, Germany. Returning to the US after studying abroad is always hard, but my journey especially so. Not only is this my final semester abroad, but it’s my final semester as a student at all. In August I will be graduating with my Bachelor’s and beginning my career. I counted, and as of today, I have 93 days until my return to the US and 105 days until my graduation. 100 days until I move on to the so-called “real world.”
Bittersweet is the only word I can use to describe how I feel. I fell in love with Germany and the wonderful friends I have made abroad, and leaving them will be hard. Graduating too is difficult: even though I’ll be geographically close to most of my friends from home, I’ll be working a full-time job while many of them will still be students. The deep friendships I have cultivated over the last three years of my college career, both at home and abroad, have been my rock in good times and bad. My friends in the US have watched me grow as a student and person, supported my academic and professional goals, and given me advice on everything from dating to essays to whether my skirt matches my top. They’ve done everything from visiting me in the hospital to helping me dye my hair in the dorm bathrooms.
The friends I’ve made in Germany are no less important. We’ve helped each other through the stresses and joys of studying abroad. We’ve also seen our fair share of partying, studying, and traveling, and the memories I’ve made abroad will last me a lifetime.
I’ll miss the academics of both countries as well. I’ll miss speaking German on a regular basis, and with native speakers my own age. I’ll miss attending classes and learning about interesting topics. I’ll miss reading novels or articles and having a ready-made group to discuss them with, and hearing advice and insight from professors who are leaders in their respective fields. I’ll miss participating in university events and traditions. College has been a special and important time in my life, and nothing will ever exactly replace it.
But there is, of course, also sweetness contained in my graduation and return to the states. I’m starting my career in a field I feel passionately about. I’m moving back to a city I love and returning to friends and family that I’ve spent a year apart from. My life as a full-fledged adult is beginning, and I have so much to look forward to.
Nothing will be the same after I graduate, and I intend to make the most of these last 100 days. As a kid, I loved country singer Brad Paisley, and one line from his music has stuck with me. In a fictional letter to his high school self he sings, “have no fear, these are nowhere near the best years of your life.” I’m confident that the best years of my life are still ahead, but even then I will look back on these ones with a smile on my face and love in my heart.
