Through the Ups and Downs, I've Made it Past the Halfway Mark a Stronger and Happier Person, and I've Still Got a Long Way to Go.

I can't believe it’s already over a week into the month of April. Where on earth has the time gone? It’s been quite some time since my last update and so much has happened since then; I’m sure I’ll struggle to fit everything in (or perhaps more accurately just remember it all), but I'll give it a go.

Since #SpringBreak2k15, I've kept pretty busy. On a general note - I’ve been re-hired as an Orientation Advisor for #Orientation2015 this coming summer and re-elected onto next year's #Senate42 back at my home alma mater, Roger Williams University. I’ve written more than 7,000 words of essays and final assignments for class and finished out the semester as strong as I possibly could. All that’s left for me now are my final exams in May (wish me luck). I managed to end up in the hospital once with a bad case of tonsillitis, but with a little penicillin and some serious bed rest I came out just fine. In my free time, I visited the bonnie banks o' Loch Lomond, Roslyn Chapel, St. Andrews castle and cathedral, Glasgow (for the millionth time) and a few little towns in the Borders region - including the place where Sir Walter Scott lived and wrote his famous #WaverleyNovels, one of which I picked up a copy of purely for posterity’s sake (admittedly I don't read much). Finally, I got the distinct pleasure of spending a long weekend in Berwick-upon-Tweed with a wonderful host family where I drank enough tea for a lifetime, loaded up on fancy home-cooked British meals and TV programs, and took a visit to the actual castle where #HarryPotter and #DowntonAbbey were filmed (pretty cool, I know).

Now that my semester is over and my classes have come to an end, I've taken some time for myself to travel, study, and most of all reflect on the last 3 1/2 months. It’s unbelievable what I have managed to do and see since the first of the year - the places I've been, the friends I've made, and the memories I've created. As I write this, I'm currently embarking on a 4 day vacation in Stockholm, Sweden… and that’s exactly the kind of thing that I never (not in a million years) would have thought I’d have the ability to say. I can honestly say that I am truly humbled. I wouldn't change a single second of my time abroad for anything - and my trip isn’t even finished yet.

I've booked my flight home already, but every time I think about the fact that I have to leave my new home and this life behind, my emotions get the best of me. As strange as it sounds, and believe me or not when I say this, but I have fallen in love - in love with Edinburgh, Scotland and everything else about the country. My allegiance and loyalty may always lie (if only by default) with the United States of America, but my heart lives in Great Britain. I find myself daydreaming about a future there - about moving back there as soon as humanly possible. I have never been so happy anywhere - not in all my travels, and in all the places I have ever lived. Scotland has showed me what it means to wake up and simply be happy to be alive, and for that I will be forever grateful. I know that boarding that plane home in just over a month will be the hardest thing I've ever had to do, even with all the wonderful things I have waiting for me back home.

Moving abroad has taught me so much - every person I meet, every kind of food I try, every class I attend, and every place I visit teaches me a lesson, if I’m really paying attention. Scotland is without a doubt changing me for the better (and I'm not just saying that because my mom tells me I've picked up a funny accent). They all say it, but I'm living proof that it's true: everyone should spend a few months really far away from home at some point in their life because the time spent will be absolutely invaluable. Through the ups and downs, I've made it past the halfway mark a stronger and happier person and I've still got a long way to go.

“I am not the same having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.”

— Mary Ann Radmacher