Hi, again.
It's been a while since we last spoke, and even longer since we studied abroad with one another. Despite the distance between both our last conversation and our physical selves, there is a part of you all that is always with me. It is not something that I need to actively recall everyday to cherish deeply, and I want you to know that.
In the time we spent abroad together, I grew more as a person than I ever had before. I explored new places and become acclimated with new ways of life, languages and people with you all by my side. I was taken out of my comfort zone being so far away from home, but with a group that made me laugh until I cried when I needed it most (and wanted only to cry until I cried!) it was easy to quell those feeling of being homesick.
It’s amazing to think that the little world within the world that we created for ourselves is a part of the past—we’ve all returned to the lives we left behind when we boarded the initial flight, one stampless on our passports. Those memories we created sitting below the Eiffel Tower as the clock struck 9:00 and the 1,000+ foot tall piece began to glimmer and dance, or prance around the Scottish Highlands with smiles on our cheeks and the bustling wind in weaving in our hair warm me up as I navigate the cold winter so far away from that magical summer.
Even the ordinary, like walking to class or getting coffee on the weekends, was made memorable because we were all there experiencing something fresh and new and scary and wonderful together.
There is something about skipping down the streets of London reveling in the idea that you can drink alcohol publicly or failing miserably at Trivia Night at your favorite pub that truly solidifies a friendship. We do not have to talk every day to know that that bond remains steadfast. Somewhere amongst the hesitant introductory games and the constant
“So where are you from and what are you studying?” developed a more sincere and raw conversation. Living with people you just met allows you to become fast friends—you skip the terse and superficial getting-to-know-yous and instead focus on how to live cohesively. Sharing parts of yourself with people so far away from home is first easy and then rewarding.
Before leaving to go abroad, I didn’t think I would be homesick for the people I met once I returned to the States, but as I took in the sights Europe had to offer, I took in your friendship. It is all the people I met while abroad that I want to single out and remember. You made my experience that much more exquisite. And though I know our conversations are less frequent now, I know this is not the end of our story; you all have been a part of the most exciting chapter thus far—one I revisit frequently.
Thank you for the time of my life.
