A year ago today my eyes swelled with tears as I said goodbye to my family at Boston Logan Airport. My stomach was in knots and thoroughly confused by my excitement and sadness. I was a mixture of two opposite emotions but, even as the tears started streaming down my face and I waved one last time to my parents passing through security, I couldn't wait to step foot on Australian soil again.
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All at once, I find myself standing, looking at the person in front of me as they walk across the stage. One, two, three steps up, I hand my pink notecard to my accounting professor. I hear my name called and, without thinking about it, my legs walk me across the stage towards the president of Gordon College. I look out into the sea of family and friends. I immediately feel so small in this big, big world. My stomach is in knots and I am praying I don’t trip in front of everyone I know and love. Grab diploma with the left, shake with the right, and smile for the camera. Next handshake. One, two, three steps down, then another shake. Smile for Dad's camera. Returning to my seat, my palms are sweaty and my knees are weak. I look down at my diploma and it hits me. That was it. That was what I waited four years for.
I woke up this morning to the realization that graduation is less than four weeks away. After four challenging, life-changing, and incredible years, it is almost time to write the ending of this life chapter. Is it just me, or does anyone else feel like we just started orientation and are trying to survive the awkward o-crew activities? This is an exciting time: in less than four weeks, I achieve what my parents and I have been dreaming of for years now.
As graduation quickly approaches, I can't help but look back on the journey I took to get to where I am now.
I went to a public middle school where I really felt like I never fit in. I had my few close friends and a relationship that made bearing middle school possible, but other than that I was an outcast. I was picked on and dreaded school so much that I actually made myself sick from all the nerves I had. I wasn't pretty or cool enough to be a part of the popular crowd, despite how hard I tried to fit in. Those unfortunate awkward years were real for me. I was never fully able to accept who I was--someone who would never fit in with that crowd. Currently, I am sitting curled up on the couch with a fluffy blanket and a big cup of steaming hot coffee next to a window, covered in snow, with just a slight beam of light shining in. I just came inside from shoveling my car out from the fourth big snow storm of the 2015 winter season. I should actually just say the fourth big snow storm since January 27th, as that was when this snowpocalypse first began. In the area of Massachusetts I am living in, we have accumulated over 85" of snow (about 216 centimeters of snow for any one outside of America reading this). The worst part? It is only mid-February. We have more snow in the forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and it is safe to say we will likely be seeing much more
Wednesday marked the first day of the final semester of my college career and, to be honest, it was not what I had expected going into it. As I walked through campus to get to my class, I couldn't help but feel like a stranger. I felt as if I knew no one, like I was walking on campus for the first time in my life. It felt like freshman year. Yikes. At the end of the day, I was upset that my final semester at Gordon would be like that. All this time I had been excited to reunite with friends and be reminded of the community I had before I left. I was excited to start the semester and bring college to a close but now I was filled with dread for the next day.
It has been almost two weeks since I've been home from Australia, and I can honestly say it has been one of the hardest transitions I've had to make. I thought going abroad, by myself, knowing no one, would be the hardest transition. To my surprise, coming home to people and places I haven't seen for four months is the hardest transition of all.
And so begins the home stretch.
With little more than three weeks left, I flew to the city of Melbourne and, one week later, set off for another adventure. This time, no city would fill what I was craving in my next adventure. This time, I was being uniquely Australian. This time, I was going to the Outback. When I originally came to Australia, I was upset that I would be spending my biggest birthday with people that I didn't know well enough to really celebrate with me. Little did I know how quickly studying abroad would form a bond between people.
If you know me, you know that my fear of insects and spiders would not make me an ideal candidate for a hiking adventure to a giant sand island. To your surprise, as well as mine, I did it anyway. Despite a few scary experiences here and there, this was one trip I will never forget.
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December 2016
AuthorTara | 22 | Gordon College '15 Categories |