Last Entry..and it's still almost as awkward as the video journal.

So, I made it home from Europe, but evidently barely. My plane home left from London Heathrow about 2 hours before all the crazy terrorist arrests on the same airline started happening. Mom had a field day with that one, especially since I sent her an e-mail right before I left saying that I was going to postpone the flight for a day as a joke. But, I made it home ok and MILES was waiting for me right outside the door at the airport.
Anyway, its been a few weeks, and I’ve had time to think about the trip quite a bit. As we all know, a month in Europe is a life changing experience, but I find it hard to explain exactly what those changes are. One thing that I have noticed is that I really don’t care as much about fitting in with some norm for the sole purpose of blending in and fitting the mold. I’ll attribute this to the realization that I spent a month in various places where I most certainly stuck out like a sore thumb, and I’ve gotten used to being myself regardless.
When I got home I did not exactly have a relaxing return with a few days to recover like I expected, and very much needed. Less than 24 hours after I got back to Austin, I left for Dallas to meet up with my roommates where I managed to probably act more irresponsibly than I ever did in Europe while at the lake and down town Ft. Worth for two days. After the fun few days, things went down hill quickly. I messed up my back and had to go to the emergency room at 3 in the morning right before two-a-days for soccer started. Bottom line on that one is that it hurt and morphine is quite possibly the coolest drug ever. Also, I realized that I was graduating in exactly one year and I had/have no clue what I want to do with myself after that. So it’s been a stressful few weeks realizing that I didn’t exactly see any clear image of who I am while I was in Europe to help me decide what work I was interested in, other than not going straight to med school. The current plan is to work for a year or so after I graduate and then probably go to grad school, and I wouldn’t mind doing one to the two in Europe (particularly London).
I’m starting to ramble so I’ll wrap this up. The trip was great and I learned a vast array of interesting medical and veterinary related facts through the program that has honestly helped to renew an interest in my major and understand the value of the often monotonous engineering courses. I could not have asked for better instructors, and I think that both of their interest in the excursions, course material as well as their encouragement of our submerging ourselves in the culture and taking advantage of the opportunity we had while abroad really helped to make the experience as memorable as it was. There are a lot of memories that I have from the trip that have helped me grow as an individual, most of which I keep to myself because none of my close friends can relate, but the entire experience has been amazing. Anyway, I wish you all the best and hope you have a good semester.


P.S. come out to our soccer games this fall.
P.S.S. I bet Kyle called Thomas when he got back home.