Thank you. Plain and simple.

I did the math – 125 days. 3,000 hours.

Upon my arrival it was a calculation I worked out, a number that seemed infinite. Now, I stand on the opposite side of that equation. 2,976 hours later, my time studying abroad is nearly over.

For international students, time is the scariest concept in the world. I have not been blogging much recently – it has been quite intentional. I have about fifteen nearly finished posts written on my computer, yet I refuse to give them proper syntax and publish them for one simple reason – each headline represents another adventure that has come and gone.

Today was full of goodbyes – one last run on campus, one last walk along the Liffey, one last Irish meal, one last dinner with friends.

Goodbyes are just so hard. In particular, “goodbye” for study abroad students is not “see you next semester” or “see you soon.” There is a strikingly real possibility that I may never see these friends again.

Tonight I said one of my hardest goodbyes. Caela and I stood in the center of our residences spewing out affirmation after affirmation, wishing each other good luck, and choking back tears as we wondered if we would ever see each other again. Hug after hug, we resisted the final goodbye.

However, for one last time of the semester, Caela challenged and changed my perspective yet again. “It’s not so much goodbye,” Caela spoke wisely. “It’s more of a ‘thank you for being in my life.’”

While the goodbyes travel out of my mouth and echo in my memory, the “thank you”s take up a residence in my heart. They settle, they latch on, they remain. With each utterance of gratitude, I rest in the comfort of knowing that each person was not simply a part of my past – their influence has carried me to where I stand.

For hours, I could thank Caela, the other study abroad students, and the strangers I met along the way, and it would not ever be enough. How do I verbalize all the ways in which these people have inspired me? How each mere interaction has been a gift? How I have been transformed by their presence?

To each stranger-turned-friend who has accompanied me throughout this semester, thank you for being in my life. In a very real way, your influence has been an integral part of my metamorphosis. Thank you for walking alongside me as I grow and transform. Thank you for patiently dealing with my lack of directional skills, for procrastinating with me as we choose to explore spontaneously instead of study, for exploring our world through conversations, for sharing sharing stories about YOU – your culture, your religion, your family, your life.

With now just 23 hours left, I will not say goodbye.

My dear friends, thank you.

Thank you to Caela and Tess for bringing Aussie sunshine into my life!

 

Thank you to this lovely group of girls for days filled with worldwide travels, sangria parties, and game after game of heads up.