Looking back on my time in Spain, I had a great time. There was a lot of differences in Spanish versus what we are used to in the United States. Unfortunately, our time was cut way to short and I had to come home over a month early. The process of us coming home was scary and nothing like I have ever done. We were supposed to be waking up to fly to Dublin for Saint Patrick’s day and I was so excited I could not fall asleep. When my roommate and best friend came running into my bedroom at 2:30 in the morning saying “Maner wake up and start packing we have to leave now!”. I called my mom and she and my roommates mom bought us flights while we had to pack. We had to scramble to get everything from the past two and a half months packed up into our suit cases. At this point, I could not even start the grieving or feeling sorry for myself for having to leave; we were both terrified. We were able to pack everything, clean the whole apartment, and arrive at the airport at five in the morning. Once we arrived the Barcelona airport was crazy, I have never seen anything like it. Everyone was scrambling and trying to leave. We had to wait in an extremely long line that took two and a half hours, just to check our luggage. We stood in line and talked to people and many people had left the clubs and bars only a couple of hours before, being told by their parents that they had flights in a couple hours and they needed to go pack and get to the airport. The girls that were our neighbors were celebrating one of their 21st birthday parties before they had to come with the airport with us. I talked to a lady in front of me and she had been in Barcelona only for a couple of days for work and her husband was currently flying in the air to meet her and spend a couple of days traveling for vacation. She said she was meeting him in Munich to turn around and fly back to the United States. Once we got through all of security and on the plane it was packed. Then we finally arrived home and were relieved at this point. We were honestly worried about being stuck in Europe and were just happy to be home. My roommate and I were already starting to plan a weekend to go to Savannah for Saint Patrick’s day and go to Key West for our spring break, since we were missing everything we planned. However, little did we know once we came home we were not going to be getting to go anywhere for months. We were told we had to self-quarantine for two weeks once we arrived home, so we did. Then this two weeks has turned into over a month.
I look back on all of this today and I am truly grateful for everything I was able to experience while I was abroad, but I and also extremely disappointed it was cut way too short and I did not get to experience many other places I wanted to. More than that I am so sad that this is the way my senior year has come to an end. I will never get to have my spring semester of senior year back. I have had the most amazing college career and time while at College of Charleston. Every time I think about never getting to see people again or get to sit in a classroom in the Beaty center it truly makes me tear up and breaks my heart. Although this portion of my life has come to an end I will never forget the wonderful memories I have made in Charleston and in Europe. I cannot imagine doing anything different. I highly recommend every student study abroad, you will find more about yourselves than you ever thought possible. There so much in the world to discover and I was only able to experience a small portion but I want to go and travel more eventually. I am so grateful for College of Charleston and everything I have gained from this amazing school. A piece of my heart will forever be there and I hope to one day come back and live in Charleston. I cannot express all the emotions I am experiencing currently, I am overwhelmed with how everything has ended, but I am trying to stay positive and remember all of the wonderful memories I have. As cliché as it sound those four years will seriously fly by before you know it. So when you are in the middle of finals, thinking “I can’t wait to be done with all of this and have a job,”; try not to. I regret ever thinking that and I would do anything to be back in a freshman’s seat right now and experience everything all over again. So, if anyone is reading this, the three tips as a graduating senior who has finished all of her final exams, I would tell you to 1. Study abroad (Just do it, and enjoy it!) 2. Say yes to almost everything and get involved as much as you can! Join a sorority or a club! 3. Enjoy every single minute of your 4 years!
