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The Goodbyes

By claudiadev

So. My last blog post I’ve taken a little time to get this up – it’s been a whirlwind week since I left DC on Monday and headed to NYC. I’m with my family now. It’s definitely a change after 5 months living on campus!Image

From NYC I’ll be heading solo to Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego before flying home. I’m getting my travel all done now, after the semester is over, my marks are back and the stress is long-gone. It’s amazing how easily you forget how stressful finals can be. Every six months I get the surprise of my life trying to cope with the anxiety about final papers and exams. But enough about the easily forgotten finals!

To say goodbye to DC, GW and my exchange experience I thought I’d list the things I’ll miss:

My Roommates and neighbor – were awesome. There’s no other word for it. They know how much I’ve appreciated their support and friendship, and  hope I’ve been able to as best I can return that support and friendship. We won’t be living together any longer, and they’ve all just graduated this weekend to move into a new chapter of their lives – but I won’t be giving up on these friendships any time soon!

My exchange friends – I can’t remember who said it, but ‘no man is an island’ (John Donne maybe?). Friends are the people that make life what it is. Creating new bonds with people (who, unlike family, aren’t obligated by blood and marriage to love you and put up with your quirks!) is a pretty darn wonderful thing! A week after leaving I still can’t quite grasp the fact that I won’t be able to just randomly bump into these new friends walking to class every morning and text a friends for an impulsive late night coffee or snack run. My friends and I at home all live much further from each other, and our university, work and life schedules are much harder to coordinate. Which brings me to…

Living on Campus – is something I didn’t realized I’d love so much. Convenience is one of my favorite things. When the library, food, coffee and company are all within a 5 minute walk it’s a pretty darn wonderful thing. Especially given the campus itself is in such a great location and a 15-minute walk takes me to Georgetown or Dupont or the Tidal Basin.

DC – Never again will I live so close to the monuments. If I was ever feeling a little stressed I could just wander down to the mall and instantly feel better. The fresh air and people watching potential will be sorely missed! Because no building can be higher than the statue above the Capitol, Washington never feels impossibly tall or overwhelming. The American accents you hear on the streets are from all over the country and there’s something about DC, about it being the capital, so full of energy, power and super-important-decisions-I-don’t-even-want-to-know-about, which I just love.

Goodbye George Washington University! Goodbye DC!

With many thanks to Jacki and Shawna and the whole Study abroad office for their help and support.

Claudia