Finals are stressful; there is no way to avoid it. No matter how much you prep there is always some sort of stress still lurking, an anxiety reminding you just how important finals can be. What is also stressful, though, is the realization that your study abroad time is coming quickly to an end. Have I seen everything I wanted to? Did I get to eat at all the restaurants, take all the pictures, buy all the souvenirs, etc. etc.
What is worst of all is that these two things happen simultaneously. While you’re worried about getting your essay done and finishing all your readings, you also have that nagging voice in the back of your head asking all those questions. You realize that your time in London (or wherever you’re studying, I’m assuming it’s a similar feeling) is passing all too quickly by.
As you sit inside to do work, the only place you really want to be is outside. Exploring and enjoying before you have to go home. For me, my time left has finally hit below the week mark. There are, obviously, good aspects of going home after months of being away (free laundry, free food, seeing your family), but that doesn’t diminish any of my feelings about leaving the city that has come to be my home. I will genuinely miss all that London has to offer.
It’s been a balancing act, trying to figure out how much time to spend doing each thing that feels equally as important in my head. I try to make time at least once a day to do something or go somewhere. Sometimes, it’s something I’ve done before that I desperately want to do again– going somewhere with food that blew me away, relaxing in a garden that is beyond beautiful– and other times it’s all about trying to fit in at least one new thing.
My time here has been a luxury that I have been growing more and more aware of. The days left are unbelievably rare– precious and finite. As they grow even fewer, it has been impossible not to look back and reminisce on my time here. I’m sure there will be even more time spent thinking fondly on my past here in London, but for now I’m trying to think less on it and do more. Enjoy everything while I still have it at my fingers.
I mean… and study. Balancing it all equally can be a little hard, especially when one is a little more fun than the other. I think I’m doing alright.
Annie Lindenberg
<p>Annie Lindenberg spends the majority of her year in Boston, MA where she is studying Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College. Along with her creative writing pursuits, she also writes film and television reviews as a staff writer for Emertainment Monthly. When not writing or exploring, you can find her eating copious amounts of guacamole and starting books she has almost no time to finish.</p>
