Journals from Austria

2011-12-05 Coming Full Circle

It’s December, …hmm that’s nice, WAIT WHAT its December?!!!!

It is simple but true, it is now officially December; everything has gone by so fast, and we are all finding it hard to believe that the semester is over!  All in all, it’s a whirl-wind.  As we finish up our finals and say our last goodbyes, one day blends into another.  We’ve learned so much with our program abroad, and of course we have only scratched the surface!  There will always be so much more that a person could have done or discovered but that is always the case; there is never enough time in life for everything.  All a person can do is their own best and be happy with their own personal experience abroad.

 But there is more to an abroad experience besides being happy.  A person also grows while being away from home.  Everyone changes even if they don’t realize it; in some cases if just takes time to personally realize the changes that have occurred.  Naturally sometimes these changes are not direct, either, but what really happens is that people become more accepting of who they are and discover a better way to blend the different things they have learned about themselves.  I like to think of it as a full circle.  Some things are coming to an end, and at the same time other things have just begun.  I know with myself personally I am coming in full circle with this trip and I am sure other study abroad students are as well--not just students with this specific program, but with every program.

So as a part of the circle, the next thing you know, it will be departing day.  We will be all packed and heading back to Vienna’s international airport, having to officially say good-bye to our semester; the one part of the circle, the closure.  Of course on the bright side we don’t have to completely say good-bye because we will always have a wonderful semester, full of great memories to look back on.  Plus I know we will stay in touch with the people who have entered our lives, the people who have made our study abroad program into a wonderful experience!  The other part, the never-ending full circle. 

Tschüs,

Stephanie Raso, class of 2013

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