As the school year comes to an end, and the summer begins I am forced to begin my goodbyes. I start with my teachers, my school, and will soon end with my best friends, and ultimately my family. The hardest part about this exchange will be the inevitable fact of leaving. First I will leave Alexandria, Virginia for my new home in Ponferrada, Spain with the Mendez family. The friends I've grown up with, the traditions, the memories I have created are all here in Alexandria, but maybe that's just it. All I have ever known is this city. My parents have lived here for decades, and their reputations have made it very easy for me to grow up here. I am ready to begin on my own, create my own reputation, my own connections, I am ready to start over. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean forgetting my past, or leaving anything behind. I don't mean that I am going to move and become the cliche teen movie, or lose sight of the redheaded rugby playing, cheerleader from Virginia. Start over, as in for one year I will be away from the normality, the things that have become so constant in my life, such as the language, or the school, and I will find myself. Through the hardships of moving to a foreign country with minimal language skills, I will find out whether or not I can keep the same type of friends, have the same sense of humor, or even keep the same style. When I get back, I hope to be more of who I am, and less of who I try to be. Maybe the hardest goodbye of all, will be the one to myself.
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