Last Nights in Harlaxton

After the amazing Scottish experience, I wasn't sure how to react to the fact that I had only one more full week in the UK. The biggest shock was that the people I had grown close to in 5 weeks I may never see again, "To you I say thank you, you will always be a part of me." Tuesday was my last day of class formally, and I ended up learning a great deal about leadership, and finding that I had the competence to be a leader as well. Tuesday night was really the last night with everyone at our school, we went to club Gravity for pound shot night, and then to the Royal Oak to finish our partying. It was a good time, saying goodbye to those who wouldn't be joining us in France, and saying goodbye to Grantham which had been so good to us.

My last day in Grantham was a mix of packing, writing the rest of my final paper, and saying goodbye to good friends. Wednesday night we had a final reception in the Grand Hall where our orientation began. With cocktails, wine, Chicken Co'DonBlue, and desserts we ate, and realized we may never see each other again. We took a group picture of ourselves out in the circle and many of us shed a few tears. I went into town one last time, spent some time in my first English pub, and said goodbye to the bar staff who knew how much I'd grown just in ordering a drink in England. (I was terrified to order one in England at first, and now I had grown accostomed to it). We made our way back to Harlaxton, and I spent my last night in the Manor. I checked my luggage earlier that day and realized I may never get to come back to see where I spent 5 weeks. There are many things I'll never forget, late night computer labs, talking to some great people, and a night when the room next to me created a fort!

I'm not sure what to say here, I'll miss Grantham and Harlaxton College, but as a professor expressed, "Harlaxton has a sense of place, we will all remember it in our own way and leave our mark on it as well." I feel like this will be the same experience for me, and I know I already have and will keep taking something special from its walls.

After my last breakfast, we hit our coach and waved goodbye all the while talking about living in such beautiful surroundings. But we had another experience yet to have, Paris.