I am about to leave australia and I am so happy with this semester. I have a hard time putting it into words, how I feel about this trip and what i’ve learned and experienced without it sounding cliche. I made so many friends and did so many fun things I never thought I would do and I went many more places than I expected to in the 4.5 months I was here. I am headed to Los Angeles to spend the summer interning and I am so excited to move on to the next adventure but I will never forget the experience I had here in Sydney. In the last three weeks after classes there was a week called Stuvac, or study vacation, for one week, where there is no school. And then there are two weeks of exams. During Stuvac, I went to Tasmania alone. I had the greatest trip and I am so glad I did a solo trip because I met so many people I never would have if I was in a big group. I stayed in a hostel and I didn’t plan anything out before hand but ended up having the greatest time, going to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, which is a museum I’ve been wanting to go to since before I knew I was even studying abroad in Australia. Safe to say it did not disappoint as it was the highlight of my trip. After coming back from Tasmania, I had exams but my exam wasn’t until the last day of the 2 weeks, so I had time to finish doing everything in Sydney that I wanted to do before I left. I ate at some of my favorite restaurants, went to the vintage markets, went to the beach and did the coastal walk, spent time with friends watching the movies that are only on Australian Netflix, and going anywhere else I could think of. Now I am about to take my exam and then I head out in 2 days. I am sad to leave but I honestly thought it would be much harder to leave, not meaning that I didn’t have a good time here as that is the opposite. It’s not super sad for me to leave as I have this summer to look forward to and I also feel that I got to do everything I wanted to do and I don’t feel like I regret not doing something I wanted to do. I am sitting in a cafe right now drinking a chai latte and thinking about my experience as a whole. I am beyond blessed to have been able to come over to the opposite side of the world and to have the opportunities to travel so many places while here. I will never forget this experience and I know that I will have lifelong friendships that came out of it and I will surely be back in Australia soon. (I am going to look for internships there for next summer also which is exciting.)
