I’m not a particularly talented person, but writing has always been the one thing that’s come pretty easily to me. This means that I can usually just sit down and finish up an Odyssey article in a half hour with very little stress. Yet, here I am, 45 minutes into an article designed to say goodbye to South Africa with nothing written on the page. I’ll type out a sentence or two, get about halfway through the thought, and then erase the entire page. The truth is, I can’t find the words to describe how much this past semester has meant to me because those words don’t exist. I can tell you that this has been one of the coolest experiences of my life, and it has. I can tell you that I’m heartbroken to go, and I am. I can tell you that this country is wonderful, and it is. The problem is that none of these words can even come close to doing this place justice. So, with that said, here is what little I can say about this awesome country and the people who live here.

After spending the last five months adventuring around the most amazing place I’ve ever been, I find myself writing the last Odyssey article of my South African career. In a little over a week my entire life will be crammed into a suitcase while I sit on a plane for 20 hours before touching down in New York City. I’m excited to see my family and friends, but leaving this wonderful country is going to absolutely suck. Where else can I buy a beer for $.75 or see zebras while I go fill up my water containers? The truth is, these past few months have been some of the best of my life, and the thought of waking up someplace that doesn’t consider 56 degrees Fahrenheit as ‘very cold’ is absolutely heart-breaking.

I think it’s fair to say that I’ve learned more about the world in these past five months than I did in the 21 years preceding them. I’ve met people from every continent on the globe (there were penguins in Cape Town, so they count for Antarctica), I’ve done really impactful volunteer work, I’ve participated in protests; the list just goes on and on. Every one of these opportunities has been truly eye-opening, and I am confident that they have all helped me to develop and grow as a person. What has really struck me about meeting people who live such drastically different lives than I have is that, often, we have so much in common. It really doesn’t matter if a person’s from Mozambique or France or India, you can just sit and talk to them about why Kendrick is such a great rapper or how disappointed you were in the new Batman movie.

I have met so many incredible people here that it’s really impossible to mention everyone who has made a profound and lasting impact on my life. I’ve developed great relationships with lectures and classmates, met an awesome basketball team, had inspirational experiences volunteering and made an incredible amount of really great friends. With that said, I do have to give special shout-outs to two groups.

First, I have to say how cool the group of international students really has been. I’ve gone on so many adventures with these hooligans, and they will forever be attached to some of the best memories of my life. They’ve taught me about the wonders of deep house music, helped me to ride ostriches, shown me Holland’s really racist holiday traditions and force-fed me an ungodly amount of pasta. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to experience South Africa with.

Second, we have the gentlemen of Graham House. I had the honor of being a part of the baddest residence on campus (oh yeah) for this semester, and the truth is, I couldn’t have asked for a better place to call home. I will wear my Graham hoodie with pride once I’m back on the US side of Donald’s wall, and soon everyone in America will know where the coolest res in Rhodes is. Graham House might be intellectually bankrupt, but its members are inclusive, funny, brilliant and really bad at water polo. It’s been such a pleasure staying with these gents, and I’m sure they’ll do great things in the future.

Well, that about wraps it up. It breaks my heart to say this, but I have reached the end of the last article I will write here in South Africa. I really can’t find the words to do this experience justice. What I can say, however, is that I have absolutely loved my time here in South Africa, and I want to thank everyone who helped me to have this incredible experience. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I do know that this country has not seen the last of me.