One Year Later

Well, here we are. One year later. I have been sitting at my new computer (story to come later) for hours with this blog post open in an unchecked tab, trying to find the right words for this moment.

One year ago, I nervously walked through the security line at Newark airport after saying goodbye to my parents, who were more emotional than I was. To be fair, they were watching their little girl walk away, knowing that they wouldn't see me again for four long months. It was the longest single stretch I had ever spent away from them.

One year ago, I was a mile high, trying to sleep. I knew that I should get some rest, but I had taken off at 6PM NY time (just before the Superbowl kicked off) and I would land at 6AM local time, and the dark wasn't quite long enough to overcome my nervousness and excitement about the adventure ahead of me.

One year ago, I dragged a giant suitcase behind me through the winding corridors of an airport I had never seen, feeling too small in its path. In it, I had crammed four months worth of clothes, and shoes, and hopes, and fears, and everything that I thought I could possibly need.

One year ago, I stepped off a train for the first time in my brand new city, looking around until I found others who looked just as confused and lost as me. I dragged my bags across the cobblestones and the sidewalk and into the small house that would be my home for the duration of my stay. It took two of us to carry my bag up the stairs, and it would take the same effort to bring it back down after.

One year ago, I met some of my most trusted friends, though I didn't know it yet. Together we would travel, we would study and write, we would push our boundaries and try new things. We would share the adventures in a way no one else would be able to understand.

It's hard to believe that it's been a whole year. I can still remember calling my mom that day, telling her I had arrived safely, and unpacking four months worth of life, knowing even then that it would never fit back in quite the same way. I can't begin to describe the ways this year has changed me, no matter how hard I try, but I am who I am now because of this adventure and because of all the amazing people and places who witnessed it, and I will never stop being grateful for it.

Happy one year anniversary, ASE Spring 2014. Love you all.