So I'm driving away from school with maybe a few too many tears streaming down my face as I say goodbye to the amazing city of London the amazing, countless memories and some of the best friends that I've met recently. This past week has been stressful, fun, sad and happy all in between. I started off the week with studying for my finals, which I can't even begin to describe how happy I am that they are finally over. In between the studying, however I spent as much time as possible with everyone I've met here. This week we all took into consideration that this is something that were not going to get back anytime soon.
Looking back on my time here in London I can't help but get nostalgic on everything that I've done and smile because it happened. Before I went abroad so many people told me that it would be such an amazing life changing experience, and yeah to some extent I believed them, I mean moving to a different country for about four months has got to be changing your life some way! What I definitely didn't know was that this was going to change almost everything in my life and not one of those changes were negative. I could go into the many details about what changed while I was abroad, but the most important was that I learned about myself. That was the most rewarding part of this experience was to test my own limits and see who I was. I'm sure it sounds so cheesey and cliche but there really isn't any other way to explain it. I can see it in myself that I've grown up and become a different person than I was when I left America 3 and a half months ago. It's crazy to think about August 27th and the feelings I had leaving and now thinking its December 15th and I'm nowhere near that person I was. Sure my life didn't do a complete 360 but there's something and I'm not quite sure I can put my exact finger on it. I like what London and this experience has done for me.
I think I probably said in every single blog post that I was eternally grateful for all the experiences that I was receiving and now that it's all over I can't say it enough. It's hard saying goodbye to everything that London has given me but these memories will stay with me forever and that is the best souvenir of all the shot glasses anyone could collect from the countries that they traveled to. I obviously couldn't have done any of this without my parents and for that I will owe them for the rest of my life. Nothing I did in London and any of the countries I traveled to could have happened with out them. I cannot thank them enough for everything that they did, especially coming to visit me!
If my parents didn't help make the experience amazing it was the friends that I met here. The people I've met here have been incredible. I created a great circle of friends from all over the US and we had the best of times in everything we did. The best part of that is that I've made life long friends that have shared this experience with me. I love how close we have all gotten, but it doesn't make saying goodbye any harder. This morning saying goodbye to the people who have become my family here was by far the hardest thing I've had to do. I laughed and told everyone I wasn't going to cry but one look at my friends and the water works started flowing. Even typing this now is getting me choked up a bit. I feel so lucky that I have gotten to know such amazing people, making this goodbye even sadder.
I'm going to miss London and everything that came along with it. This experience was the time of my life and I will never in a million years ever forget it. Although this is a bittersweet goodbye I am looking forward to heading home to my friends and family and even school and cheerleading in January. Thank you for staying posted on my blog and I hope you enjoyed reading about all my adventures Across The Pond....
Until my next European adventure,
Alyssa, x
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