I have now been home for a few days. This morning, I felt quite proud of myself for waking up at nine o’clock, a great improvement from waking up at four yesterday. So far, the change in time zones has been the biggest adjustment for me.

Besides having to get on a new schedule, I feel I am adjusting fairly well to being back. It has felt good and bad to not have a busy schedule. Mostly, though, it has felt great to be back home. Being back has given me some time to unwind and turn my brain off, but it has also given me time to look back on this incredible experience I have had.

Right now, I am packing my bags once again, only now I am preparing to head back home tomorrow. I find myself feeling a lot of different emotions right now. I am excited to be home again, but I will also miss Britain very much. These past few months have been the best of my life, and I have made a lot of amazing memories here.

It is difficult to say goodbye to the friends I have made over here. They have made the experience even better, and it is difficult to not know when we will see each other again.

TikTok made me want to study abroad in Vienna, Austria. During Covid, I was stuck on the travel side of TikTok, scrolling and scrolling, dreaming of all of the amazing international travel I would do when the pandemic was over. One day, I came upon a video posted by a girl who’d studied abroad in Vienna prior to covid, and how she and her friends were able to attend a ball together!

I’m taking a much needed break from studying for finals to write this post. Speaking of studying for finals…how the heck did I get here? How are we already at finals? How have I been in France for 3 months already??? So many questions, so little time to figure them out.

Hailing from the relatively flat East coast, I've been happily surprised to discover a newfound love for mountains this semester: Granada is nestled at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (literally: mountain range covered in snow), one of major ranges of Europe. Apart from stunning sunset views, the Sierra Nevada offers skiing (Granada’s locals brag that southern Spain is one of the few places in Europe where you can swim at the beach and ski in the same day), fascinating geologic history, and, of course, hiking.

When I made my plans for studying abroad, I knew it would be difficult, as always, to be away from home for a long time. But I also knew that my family would be visiting at some point during my trip, and this became something I looked forward to more and more as I spent more time abroad.

As I have mentioned, Oxford has been a good academic challenge for me, but I have not had many opportunities to change up my routine, so a family visit was welcome for me.

Heartbreakingly, my study abroad experience has come to an end. My time here went by much faster than I could have expected, and as happy as I am of going back to Texas and using my rice cooker again, I’ve already had to stop myself from crying a dozen times as I said goodbye to my new friends.