Today, a casualty and close friend of mine was painfully lost to the streets of Paris. While on the scavenger hunt, Jenna, Elizabeth, and I stopped at a restaurant this afternoon (which sort of felt like a last meal for me but that’s not important) and I, like a fool, left my water bottle all the way out in Montmartre. I officially lost my $10 off brand hydroflask that I bought earlier in the spring semester of school, ironically because I lost my OTHER water bottle at a club tennis tournament in Maryland. That water bottle and I were together through thick and thin, adventuring throughout Paris with not a care in the world, successfully making it so I didn’t pass out like a FOOL. Though I did enjoy that water bottle, I did have some quarrels with it, the biggest being it was starting to rip the water bottle holder on my backpack, which stunk because I had to start putting it physically in the bag! I choose to see me losing this bottle as a symbolic gesture from the world, I’m a different person now, I’ve learned a lot on this trip and I don’t need to hydrate anymore.
All jokes about my intimate relationship towards my water bottle aside, I do believe that I am not the same person who started on this trip one month ago. I’ve genuinely enjoyed my experiences here thanks in big part to the school, and it makes me excited to see the friends I made either on campus or in the real world this coming fall. For the longest time I was just going through the motions, trying to power through a major I hate, and not really put myself out there towards getting friends but because of this class and the connections I made here, I’m really happy I decided to come on this trip. I thought I would be a bit of an outsider due to the fact that I’m not a HISP major, but really seeing the small stuff, like the two globes in the library, so early on made me feel welcomed and happy to be here. I don’t know what the future holds or what will happen regarding the people I met, but even just knowing I can go on campus and say hi to people I shared such a huge life experience with means the absolute world to me. To the graduates, good luck out there in the real world and if you ever feel nostalgic about this trip, I’ll happily respond to any texts (probably almost immediately). To the current students, I’ll see you on campus, if you ever are bored and want to get something at the CRUC or are on a walk at 2 am, swing by Monroe 320, I’ll probably be there! To the professors, thank you for making this a fun trip, I had the time of my life and if you asked me if I would do it all over again I absolutely would. Thanks again everyone for a fun experience, I’ll see you all back in the United States, eager to see how this trip has changed everyone for the better!