With about 9 days left of this semester in Cape Town, I am
getting asked the number one question, “How does it feel to be going home so
soon?” I cannot stand getting asked this because it is almost impossible for me
to formulate my experience of three and a half months in another country on a
different continent into a few simple phrases.
The best I can come up with at this point is that it is a bitter-sweet
feeling because I am excited to see my family and friends back home, but sad to
leave the place I’ve been calling home for a while. It feels normal being in Cape Town now, (I
obviously still feel like an outsider mostly because of my accent) but I just
got comfortable here and now it’s time to go. I do not want to predict into the
future about how I will feel when arriving back to the U.S., but I have a
feeling that it won’t feel as nice to be back home as I might like it to feel.
Of course coming home to my loved ones will be great, but that hype will
quickly fade and I know for a fact I will miss this place dearly and the
feeling I have gotten since living here.
The best way I can describe my time here would be as a mixed bag of emotional
rollercoasters, with some confusion and frequently asking stupid questions, enlightenment,
frustration, passion, adventure, stepping out of comfort zones, solidifying
exactly what I want to do with the rest of my life, and pure happiness. A lot of people say that they would’ve been
more productive if they had stayed at UConn had they joined more clubs and
gotten involved with leadership positions, but I couldn’t disagree more. The amount I have learned on this trip
regarding everyday life lessons, and even better understanding myself and the
world around me I feel is far superior than any UConn class, internship, or leadership
role has to offer, no matter how good it looks on a resume. All I know is that
this has been one of the best decisions I have ever made and I wouldn’t trade
these past three and a half months for the world.
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