Jenna - Journal 8

April 22, 2004

"last day of my freshman year"

I can't believe it. Today is my last day of my freshman year at EMU. I leave tomorrow to fly home to Oregon. The second part of the year has gone so fast!

Finals week has been so great. The weather outside is perfect and my tests haven't been too hard. Yesterday I had two finals then basically hung out all day. It is so sunny, everyone has just been outside on the quad, playing baseball, and taking walks. I spent about two hours lying in the grass just talking to people and relaxing.

Other exciting news is that my sister is back from Guatemala. Last Friday some friends of hers and I went and picked her up at the airport. I was so happy to see her and have been enjoying spending time with her this past week.

We've been going to all the restaurants she missed and getting ice cream at Kline's. My mom flew in and was here for just a few days to see us both. So on top of finals and packing and being with friends, I've had a fun mini-family reunion.

Right now my room is a disaster as I am trying to pack up all my stuff. It's funny how much more stuff I have now than when I got here. When I'm done packing and have put my piles of stuff in storage, I am going to enjoy spending time with all the people I won't see for four months.

The end of the year is bittersweet. It will be great to be back home and with my family and high school friends. But I know I am going to really miss my friends here and being constantly surrounded by people. It's going to be hard to say goodbye.

The year has been full of transitions and changes. At times it was hard to be away from home and in such a new place. But I have had an amazing year. There's nothing like college life with noise and people everywhere, living with your friends, sharing everything, and developing connections and discovering new things about yourself and other people.