I got in a cab this morning and went to Reagan National Airport. It was kind of surreal. As we were driving over the bridge into Virginia, I was reminded of my first cab ride in the city when I arrive four long months ago. I was a bright-eyed little girl so excited to start a new adventure. It seems like it was just yesterday, and yet so long ago.
This semester was nothing like I expected it to be. I expected to leave with clear direction for my life. I expected to learn more about politics. I thought I’d absolutely love the city and be dying to go back the moment I left. Never in a million years did I expect to form friendships that would last a lifetime. I never would have told you that I’d be learning all about business as a part of international development, or that it would include SO MUCH research. But, alas, God’s plans are always different from the ones I make.
Some of my most memorable and favorite phrases/moments in the semester:
~It’s best not to ask these things.
~The solution is always puppy kisses.
~DINOS!
~Hand hugs
~Everything is binding. (And I mean that in the best way possible.)
~Did you know it’s only the year 2003 in Ethiopia?
~The British
~Paper Cranes
~Having entire conversations about really personal things without ever actually saying anything.
~Business is a part of the solution, not the problem.
~Justice, Shalom, Hope, and Forgiveness
-Including the baby ;-)
-Sin as intruder! Hide your Shalom!
~You know I’m just gonna make it up, right?
~Learning Southern-isms
-Pitch a conniption fit
-A jezebel
-Toboggan, not the sled
-Purple Bike
~“Defeat” and “Sexy” in sign language
~Teenage Dream by the Warbolers of Dalton Academy in Glee
~Chips and Salsa at 2 am
~Cuddle Parties
~Having 3 1/2 roommates, even though I really had 5.
~Coffee, and all that it implies (including Peregrine and Kramers).
~People who respond the way I want them to when I whine.
~How would you define Corporate Social Responsibility? What are your top three take-aways?
~I don’t play that game.
~I just work here.
~Always blame the intern. (But it’s okay, because occasionally the intern will get a gold star.)
~Why isn’t it Hawaii?!?!
I’m leaving this semester glad that it’s done and yet so sad that it’s over. Words fail to express how my heart feels about all that I did this semester, even though I would desperately love to share that with you all. I’ve discovered this semester that words are not my forte, I think in images and feelings. Neither is there some overarching theme that wonderfully expresses my semester (even though I wrote a paper about said overarching theme).
And now a few shout-outs to the people I couldn’t have gotten through the semester without.
Virginia:: Thanks for taking care of me, cuddles, hugs, dinners, and for letting me love you.
Hannah:: Thanks for being from Kentucky and being the closest things I’ve ever found to my sister.
Greg:: Thank you for calling me your friend and knowing how to be mine, even if it made you a little uncomfortable at times.
Jon:: Thanks for being a phenomenal hugger, for giving up high-fives and replacing them with hand-hugs, for our Maine-California/Hawaii agreement, and for making me your sister.
Mandie:: I don’t know what I would have done without you. Thank you for listening and being exactly what I needed.
Apartment 7:: Thanks for letting me be your Kramer, your half-roommate. I couldn’t have survived without you girls, or your microwave.
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