Somehow my first semester of sophomore year has only a little over a week left.

As cliche as it sounds, it feels like it was just yesterday that I was moving into my sorority house and feeling around how my classes were going to be. During the last four months I have grown not only as a person but a friend, a daughter, a sister, and a girlfriend. I have faced challenges that seem little and insignificant and challenges that I didn’t think I would be able to overcome. There were days when I thought that the world was simply out to get me, and there were days when nothing could have gone better. There were even times when I thought that things were being added to my to-do list every five minutes.

Throughout these last four months I have become incredibly close with a handful of girls that I don’t know how I ever did life without. Girls who hugged me when I was having a bad day. Girls who laughed at me when I had my horrible blonde moments. Girls who cried with me while we talked about things that are near and dear to our hearts. These are moments that I am forever thankful for and will never forget.

This semester I have spent well over 200 hours studying and not nearly enough time acting like the 20-year-old that I am. With that being said, I am thankful for the late nights with my roommates at the library, and the movies in the basement after a long weekend of hitting the books. I have grown tremendously as a student and while there were days I wanted to drop out, I have learned more in these last four months than I ever have before. I also can’t leave out the few fun nights that I did have. Not going out made these nights feel like events, and were the best nights that I had ever had. From the late night Taco Bell runs to two bucket list concerts (one with my best friend, and one with my boyfriend I mean how much better can it get).

I was also fortunate enough to be able to nanny my cousins throughout the week, something that I am so happy to have had the opportunity to do. I am so thankful to have been given the time with them to get to know them better and to spend quality time with them each week. Not only was I able to see my cousins, aunt, and uncle more, but I was also able to go to my grandmas to help out with odds and ends around the house. Life is so short, and goes by so incredibly fast so having these moments with my family members that I wouldn’t normally have has been so special to me.

While the semester has been incredibly insane, I was (of course) able to make it home a few times as well. There is nothing I love more in this world than going home and snuggling with my dogs and spending quality time with my favorite people in the world, my parents. I have never been so thankful to have parents who support me in everything that I do, and who are willing to go to the moon and back to ensure that I am given everything I could desire. I am so incredibly blessed to have a family like mine, and I vow to never take a moment for granted with them.

This semester a few of my articles for the Odyssey have been nothing but mushy for those that I love. This is because, in less than a month I will be apart from all of them for six months straight. If you have read my articles you know that this is something that I am going to struggle with immensely. While it still hasn’t really sunk in that I am going to be out of the country, and out of arms reach from them, I have found that I have made an effort to enjoy each moment with my friends and family a little extra.

On January 3rd, I am going to be hugging my mom and dad goodbye and embarking on a trip of a lifetime. I will be sailing around the world (literally) on the MV World Odyssey, during a study abroad program called Semester at Sea. I will be submerging myself into multiple different atmospheres that will make me incredibly uncomfortable, and probably scared at times. Not only will I learn what it is like to be away from those that I love, but I will truly learn what it means to become your own best company. Sure, I will make plenty of friends during this study abroad program, but there will be times that I will want a hug from my mom and dad or to hear their voices and I will have to learn to handle the situation myself. Those sentences are things that make every fiber in my body want to stay home and to not go, but that very reason alone is why I have to take that leap. The fact that I am so scared to go on this trip is all the more reason why I have to hug my parents goodbye, hold my chin up high, and walk through the security line on January 3rd all by myself.

These next few weeks I am going to enjoy every single moment, and not take a single second for granted. I am going to finish out my semester strong, say see you later (not goodbye) to my best friends, and pack my bags for the trip of a lifetime. With that being said, this will be my last article for the Odyssey for awhile. Being the editor for the last year has been incredibly rewarding, but I am happy to hand down the position to someone who is ready to take control and will continue to take the Nebraska team down the right path.

As you can see, this last semester has been everything a girl could ask for and I can not wait to see what next semester has in store for me. I couldn’t do any of this without the support of my loved ones, and for that I am eternally grateful.