Officially Over

My Blog is Officially complete. All of (well most of) the stories have been told of my year abroad. It was an amazing experience where I learned A TON. About myself, about many different cultures through my travels, about my own culture, about languages (French, English and Italian!), about people, about school, work. You name it, I experienced it in some form or another on exchange.

I met some of the most amazing people whom I will never forget, and already hope to visit in the near future. I can now say I have friends from almost all of the continents. Europe, Asia, North America, Australia - Not too bad if I do say so myself. And the best part is, each and every single one of the people I met on exchange helped me have an amazing experience. One that isn't over just because my exchange has finished. I'm still in touch with most of them, and will continue to be.

Almost 4 months have passed since I left France, and I'm back in school at McMaster, and back to real life. My time in France seems like a surreal dream. Did I really do all of those things? You bet I did.

I've come back me, but better. And perhaps most relevant to the point of my exchange, My french has improved!! My confidence is higher, my vocabulary better, my accent, pretty much everything.

So what does this tell you about the exchange experience? IT WORKS!!! Not only am I spending a year abroad in a new place, I traveled, I met amazing people, I learned NEW languages, I tried new things I would have never gotten to had a stayed in Canada. Most importantly, I gained life experience. I went somewhere new on my own. I tried something completely out of my comfort zone, and I didn't give up.

Being on exchange is an AMAZING opportunity that I would recommend to everyone. This is the time to do it! Before you settle down, before you have a real career, before you run out of time. The time is NOW! If you're thinking about it, just go for it. You won't regret it.

Until my next adventure.........