Departures

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting at my gate in JFK, waiting for my flight to go home.
I can't believe that my last post was more than two months ago, that those two months went by more quickly than I could say "two months", and that I'm done with the first semester of my last year at Penn.
As I was leaving my building in Philly this morning, everything seemed a little bit sweeter, as it always does when I have to leave somewhere I love. For the past couple of weeks, I was busy being buried in piles of books, and finally had my last exam last night. So today, when I was actually leaving, I realized that I would actually not mind spending some more time with the people in whom I found a new family over the years.
As you might have realized from my earlier posts, I have a tendency of getting very nostalgic and emotional when I want to. So yesterday, when I was walking home on Locust Walk after saying bye to my closest friends, I couldn't stop myself from tearing up a little. The trees on Locust were all lit up with Christmas lights, and the realization that I only have a few more months left living 10 minutes away from some of my favorite people in the world sinked in. Every adult that I have ever known who has attended college talks about their college years as the "time of their lives", and the fact that the time of my life (?) will be over so soon is exciting, scary, sad, and exciting again.

These past few months have been incredibly helpful in helping me figure out who I am, and what I want out of life. I feel like a much more grounded, stable person than I did even a few months ago. However, there are many things I have yet to figure out.

I'm about to board my plane in a bit, so I'll have to stop writing.
I'm ecstatic to go home, but also excited about my final semester more than I ever was about any other semester. I feel like I've done so much in the past three and a half years, but I may need to let go a little and enjoy the last little bit that's left while I still can.

Ok, I'm boarding now; hopefully there's no delay on my flight.
I'll see you on the other side.

Till then,
Stay warm and happy.