For the third time in my life I find myself wrapping up a Virginia fall, beginning preparations to get on a plane and hop the pond back to jolly old. However, unlike the previous two adventures, I'm not heading off into the great unknown. I am going back to my flat with my great roommate, living in a town where my favorite barista smiles at me on the street and if I want to see friends and have good conversation, I just need to eat a sandwich in the Shakestitute gardens.
And yet! It's not all familiar. I will be starting at a new University, beginning a new kind of program, working with a new supervisor and shifting fields ever so slightly. There will be new students, and new activities and, I'm sure, new headaches.
Robert Frost once took a walk in a yellow wood and waxed philosophic about his choice in perambulatory pathways. Part of his dilemma came from the unlikely idea he would be presented with these two paths again in his lifetime—the choice would be, in a sense, final. Home is a lot of things to me, but a large part of returning is a feeling of perpetually arriving back at that same crosswords over and over again. England vs. America, academics vs. administration, people vs. profession. Every application, plane ticket and packed bag presents another opportunity to re-examine all my life choices, and it can be exhausting. At the same time, it's also nice. Because it reminds me that there is always going to be another opportunity down the road to choose differently.
For all I will miss about America, friends and family especially, I am really excited to return to whatever phase of my life waits for me in Strats. In the last post I wrote that knowing I (probably) only have three years left in England heightens the sense of gratitude I have for the time, and that's still true. I don't have any plan for when this course ends, but my plan until then is to just make the most of it.
And, hopefully, continue to share it with all of you (:
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