By ilakes2015
The end of the semester is usually the hardest and best part of it. All the seniors are finally reaching their goal, all the artists performing for their friends and family, all the teams presenting their hard work and all of them counting the minutes for summertime. The last two weeks have been really busy. Every class, program or activity that I joined this semester reached its end. Some of those conclude in a special way, some of those just ended. Performances, presentations, a soccer game, Meor Graduation, family, study nights and Captain Cookies. Here is a summary of how I spent my last two weeks at GW.
I had two graduations last week. The first one was on Tuesday when I finished my course with the Jewish group MEOR. On Tuesday night my friends and I met at the synagogue near Chinatown to conclude our program. We had dinner and some of them together with some professors gave a speech for the rest of us. There was also a video with pictures of all the activities that we did during the semester and finally we received our diplomas. It was a wonderful night that all of us would remember. 
The second graduation was in the Australian Embassy. Was a graduation from our exchange program that even though is not over yet, we kind of conclude the whole experience on Friday Afternoon. A dress, shoes and earrings matching? Check. All of my life I’ve seen these crazy movies about Prom and parties and I thought I was going to have that experience when they said “cocktail at the Australian Embassy”. It was not exactly like that but we did have food, games, a million pictures, the exchange King and Queen and too much fun. It was a two hours event and even though they made us leave right away we had a great time with the EXO Leaders, just like the first week.
The best part of the whole event was the awards. Most of the Australians won the diplomas but I was not expecting to be the Queen of the exchange students. I felt absolutely happy and even like the main character of one of those movies. They also gave me a crown! I really didn’t expect it and even if it’s a silly thing, it was really nice to feel that my friends chose me, that they voted for me.
My friend Wilson was the King and he definitely owned it. He is this cool Chinese guy that everyone likes, that is absolutely funny and has the best selfies of the world. During the semester I shared really nice moments with him and that’s why I voted for him. I’m really glad he won it with me.
But the night was not over. After this great event we decided to celebrate and hang out for a last time before the craziness of finals.
Any recommendation? Never, but I mean Never walk more than two blocks with new shoes. I made the mistake of going with my friends to some bar NEAR us. I not only walked more than 30 blocks and danced all night in a Latin nightclub but also I couldn’t wear any shoes for the following 10 days. Only flip-flops. Anyway, that night was fantastic. Some of us together with the leaders went to Bier Baron and after that to “El Centro” to dance. Our night ended up in “5 guys” around 5am and there is nothing I would change about that night (except the shoes, of course). 
On Saturday Dion’s performance was fantastic. I’ve heard him sing before but this time he was part of a Play called Speed Dating. From my perspective he was the best there and no, not because he is my friend, he definitely was. That weekend I had to study so we didn’t hang out after it but it was a great break and is always nice to cheer for your talented friends. A few days after I went to see Yael, another of my friends, who is a senior here at GW and she had her own show because of that. With a voice as stunning as her blue eyes, I believe she accomplished her expectations for her four years education.
On Sunday afternoon my friend Allie played soccer with the GW team against Georgetown. I wanted to go see her play before but I never had time to do it and this was my last opportunity. At the beginning of the semester I signed to be part of the soccer team but I had some difficulties with my schedule so I couldn’t join. The game was mostly for the players that were seniors and because Allie is still a junior, she didn’t play much. Even though they lost, it was a beautiful sunny day so we stayed longer playing a little bit in the field. Jakob, Allie and I had a lot of fun while Vicky decided to sleep before going back to campus.
After the game, we went back to Foggy Bottom to attend an event about Women’s’ role in society through the years. It was around 7 pm when Sam and I decided to have dinner together so we walked from campus to Adams Morgan. I took Sam to my favorite Asian restaurant in this city; I’ve been there 5 times already. My brother took me to this particular place for the first time and I couldn’t stop going after that. We had a wonderful evening together and a few hours later, I walked back home to continue with my study.
Like the last couple of nights, my study time happened at night. The roof in E Street is the best place to be. Not only because of the wonderful view but also because of the wind in your face that keeps you up and helps you breathe with your whole body. My friend Ian joined me a few nights so we studied together for our finals. When we got tired we decided to go for a walk around campus and around 5 am we conclude our night. The following days were all about essays and presentations. I had to finish my research paper about Empanadas, meet with my Marketing Research team and practice for both presentations. Everything was okay and the following Thursday I also finished my consumer behavior class so my team and I decided to celebrate together. That night we went to a Korean restaurant for some food and then we went to one of my friends’ place. We became friends since the second week of classes when we decided to work together and since that moment on, every group meeting was hilarious. I am gonna really miss these guys.
That Thursday I also had my last Massage class so the professor decided to take us to Captain Cookies. The first day I arrived campus every person I met mentioned this place as the one that I was going to be spending most of my time in. To be honest, I tried their cookies with ice cream thanks to my professor. I never knew where this store was and at the same time I really didn’t care. Yes, it tasted absolutely great but I was never as motivated as everyone else to go to this store.
On Friday morning I studied for one of my finals, I finished one of my projects of this semester and by the time I was going back home, I run into some friends that were about to have a Picnic near the Monument. French baguettes and desserts, what else did they have to say to convince me? We spent a few hours talking about our lives, about our summer plans and taking pictures jumping in the air. There is no doubt that the food was exquisite and even if they talked a lot in French, I felt like Gomez from The Addams Family.
On the weekend, my relatives from Philly came to visit me. During the day I walked with them and showed them some places around GW and we also met another of my relatives near the rowing area and we had dinner together. I had crab for the first time and I must say it tasted really well. On Sunday morning we went to have brunch together and they helped me with the cover letter for my internship. After a few hours correcting some grammar mistakes and talking about my future plans, we walked back to campus. I’ve been studying since that moment on for my finals and even if I’m going a little crazy, I ‘m an optimistic person so I believe everything is going to be okay. Let’s pray, study and give the best I can on my last week. I won’t even realize and it would be summertime so let's enjoy our last time together.