Tears On My Keyboard, and Global Citizenship

Today was my last day at Rollins for a very long time. But let's talk about last night first.

I spent my last night in Florida with some of the greatest people I know, at one of my favorite places--Tolla's restaurant in Winter Park. I feel so lucky to have had 20 of some of the greatest friends to have joined me last night. I think it makes it even that much harder for me to leave for such a long time. There is nowhere else on this planet that I could have done that and had so much fun, than in Winter Park, Florida.

Afterwards, I spent the night with Aspen, Brittany, Jackie, Zach, and Scott. We had a great time. We celebrated Aspen's birthday with a cookie cake, and stayed up until past 2am, just hanging out and having a good time. The others stayed up later than me, because I wanted to go to bed so I could wake up and watch the sunrise over lake Virginia.

And that's what I did: Woke up at 6am, and made my way over to Dinky Dock. The sunrise was absolutely magnificent--just breathtaking. The whole plave looked like a poem--all the yellows and oranges and purples and blues swirled in the water, while dragonflies skimmed across the surface. The moss in the trees swayed in the breeze like a metronome, and I was at that moment perfectly content. It was the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen on the lake.

Now comes the (not-so) fun part. Of course, I waited until the very last minute to pack and clean and move out, so when I got back from the sunrise I did laundry. I cleaned my room and packed. Packing was very difficult--I did not realize how much clothes I had with me. I barely fit everything in my bags. In fact, I gave three pairs of shorts to Dustin, who thankfully accepted them!

I then went to Starbucks. Of course, I had to go to Starbucks one last time. It was a little sad to say goodbye there actually. It is slightly embarassing how much time I spent there this past summer...A little while later, Aspen, Brittany, and Jackie woke up (finally), and we went to the farmer's market. Oh, how I will miss the Winter Park farmer's market. We had a great time.

Got back to Rollins, and I finished packing and cleaning. Then Courtney Howell came over and she helped me move my stuff to my cousin Ann Marie's house, and we went to lunch at Panera. I am so thankful to her for helping me! After lunch I began saying goodbyes. I am not going to dwell on goodbyes very much because many of them were difficult. Very difficult, so that's all I am going to say about that. Courtney came back at about 4:30, and we left for the airport.

And noe, I am sitting here in front of Gate 126 in the Orlando Airport waiting for departure, and there are tears on my keyboard. As I said above, leaving Rollins for such a long time is very difficult for me. The life I have in Winter Park is amazing. I love all of the people, and the town, and the atmosphere. Someone asked me today what I was going to miss the most, and my only answer is being there. I can not say enough how much I love Rollins and Winter Park. I already miss it, and I already can't wait to get back.

But now I am off, to pursue the world, and to become the best global citizen I could be--after all, isn't this what Rollins wants me to be? I can't wait to bring this back and share it with everyone I love.