What a semester that was! I mean damn, it was really hard to ramp onto it. It was good coming back to campus though, good to see people around again, meet new people in class. Its still kinda weird though. Campus feels very empty, with what feels like half the student population on campus (probably accurate given the number of international students). COVID has also changed people’s studying habits, with more people opting to study from home instead of on campus. All in all, this feels like a very different type of uni to what I started with.

Yet still, after 5 years, I’m definitely feeling like its time to move on. Most of my friends have started working by now and moving onto the next stage of their lives. And I’m feeling this change too. I’m not sure what it is, but something changed for me this year. I started the year with an internship and its been hard to adjust back to studying afterwards. My attitude and outlook on many things has changed, so much so that I’ve decided to take time off for a gap year, something I had previously only contemplated shallowly. I mean, even as I’m typing this, I’m sitting in Bangkok airport starting a backpacking trip traveling alone. And its good, I’ve wanted to do this trip since I finished school and I’ve always been held up, failing to find any travel buddies. This new confidence and risk tolerance is good, and I think its also been leading to less stress while studying. That said, I think I am grinding more than ever, having gone through 4 splints in the first half of this year.

And to add to everything that has been happening with travel, I’ve spent the semester interviewing for a job next year and have managed to score a role in the states! And I get to travel for a few months before starting! It’s all very exciting, having this all serve as a great culmination to a long, intensive and difficult study process.

But I think its all good, all this change. The world is starting return to normal, and I’m coming back with it. I was changed through the process and am feeling better for it.