"The best thing is you'll get an F11"

I always cry at the end of a series finale. It doesn't even matter if I follow the show. I cried at the end of Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, (I did thankfully draw the line at Twilight). I cried when Gilmore Girls ended in 2007-- it felt like the end of my adolescence as well as the show. I get quite attached to things. Stories become part of everyday life; they have people and laughter and memories connected to them. And when they end; that chapter of life feels like it ends as well. I hate endings. I hate goodbyes, I hate closing credits, I turn the Oscars off before they say goodnight.. This way, the memories can just live on indefinitely.

 All of this is said to give some small explanation for the large blank space left between this post and my last one, sometime in December. But, there is no need to leave you all and cyberspace hanging indefinitely with my own memories. I think now, three months later, it's about time to bring some closure here.

It's been almost three months since I returned from Scotland. It's taken quite some time to get back to America. I had no idea how busy we are! It's crazy how much we insist we have to do. I have almost the exact same schedule this spring as I had last spring but this year, after returning from Scotland, there would be many a day where I would just sit and practically stare at the wall wondering how in the world I could do everything. I was busy last spring, but I know I wasn't this overwhelmed; I was in a "rhythm." Getting back into that is quite an experience. But, knock on wood, I'm getting there-- whether that's for better or worse is still to be determined.

I am applying for an internship for next semester and I had to get a Professor's signature. I do not know this professor so he signed it and said, "And the best thing about this is you can get an F11!" A little background, the F11 is a Rhodes graduation requirement where you have to "learn outside the classroom" or something like that. To get this you can do an internship or study abroad.

In my head I smirked, but in reality I just smiled politely and said, "Oh, great!" But I have a feeling an internship in Memphis, TN is not going to be nearly the adventure a semester in Scotland was-- oh well.

I don't think I would trade that semester for anything. There have been times transitioning where I thought, "It just wasn't worth it!" I thought Scotland wasn't worth breaking my chaotic "rhythm" for. I thought it wasn't worth the work to get back in the swing of things. But now that I think about it-- I can think of few things more "worth it."

Hopefully some path will take me back to Scotland someday. I still have Islands to see, legends to hear, and I didn't even make it Ireland! But for now I will calm down and rest (if that's even possible) back in the fast-pace American way of life.

Thanks to any of you steady followers. I'm sure you were quite surprised if you got an update about this in your e-mailbox.

Closing this chapter.

I'll have some closing credits. Hope you enjoy!

Love,

Sarah