Bowdy’s study abroad trip

Monday was our last real “chill day” in Urbino. Most of us who didn’t travel that final weekend just hung out around town and took it easy. That night, Professor Rahn took the group that stayed behind out to dinner. I had one of the best pizzas of my entire life.

Tuesday was checkout day, so we spent the morning finishing up cleaning our dorm rooms and our classroom one last time. Throughout the day, everyone was packing, doing last-minute laundry, and trying to figure out how to fit three months worth of stuff back into a suitcase. Tuesday night we had our final dinner with the entire GEV staff-the people who run the study abroad program. They did a laurel wreath presentation, which was super cool because Italians traditionally wear laurel wreaths when they graduate. It made the whole night feel special and kind of like our own little ceremony.

After dinner, we took pictures with everyone, and then we were free for the night. Since it was our last night in Urbino, we decided we weren’t sleeping at all. We stayed up the whole night hanging out with our three buddies from UTSA and soaking in every last minute. Urbino at night, knowing we were leaving in a few hours, hit way harder than expected. I think we were all extremely happy and extremely sad at the same time.

We left at 4:00 AM Wednesday morning to catch the bus to Rome. Our flight left at 12:40, and after an eleven-hour flight we finally landed in Atlanta around 6 PM Wednesday night. It felt so good to be back home, but also super bittersweet leaving Europe behind. Me and my parents had Chick-fil-A after the airport and it was amazing-probably the most American way possible to end a study abroad trip. As I’m sitting here writing this blog, I am reflecting on how thankful I am to be able to study abroad, and it will always hold some of my most valuable memories.