Envoi

     It seems strange to say "looking back" for the Rome trip that was so instrumental to the semester and also changed a lot about my life. Before the trip, I had never anticipated the friends that I would make or the memories I would create while abroad. During the course of the trip I realized that my anticipations for the adventure were different than the outcome that was being produced. I managed to make life-long friends while in Rome, and all 25 of us have created bonds that are much stronger than the average friends on a college campus. I know that when I ever see the people I went abroad with we will always have a million things to talk about - even if none of them reach past the 17 days we spent together in Italy. All of the things that we saw, all of the places that we went, and all of the things that we learned and did in that short span of time could last a life-time of conversations. Our itinerary was so jam-packed with things to do we never really sat still. But, I will be forever grateful for that - we never sat still and so we missed very little. We managed to squeeze into 17 days almost every tourist site that is worth mentioning, as well as a lot of sites that most tourists don't designate as worth their time. Just with the site presentations alone we visited numerous sites that people don't visit - such as the Porta Maggiore and the Baker's Tomb, and the Tiber Island. Those places aren't on the to-do list of people when they come to visit Rome. I think where we went and how long we were there allowed at least myself to feel that I wasn't a tourist at all. Although it was a brief stay, I lived in Rome for 17 days - I wasn't just visiting the city, I was staying there, and that changed a lot of how I viewed each place I went and how I felt leaving. It is more crushing to leave a place you felt at home than a place you visited for a short period. I felt at home in Rome, I felt peaceful and safe, and I long constantly for never having had to leave.
     Besides making friends I will always cherish, I've learned a lot from being abroad for a period of time. Beyond even the things I learned about the city itself (there are a lot of them, don't worry Professors, I was paying attention the whole time) I learned a good deal about myself, my peers, and living. I know it's ridiculously cliche to say any of those things. Of course, everyone who goes abroad is going to say that it was a life-changing experience for them. Regardless, it's true. I don't think I'll ever be able to think about my life, what I've done and what I've accomplished without thinking immediately of my time in Rome. I became, over the course of 17 days, so much different than how I began. Opening up to the 24 other amazing people I got to go abroad with, combined with the need to find my way around a city that I had never visited before, allowed me to see myself as someone more than a college student. Though I still have a while before I have to become a "real person" in the "real world," being in Rome allowed me to glimpse that future after I've finished academia.
     I know I had to say goodbye to Rome, just as I had to say goodbye to all my friends who went with me, but that doesn't mean farewell. I will always think of Rome and those friendships I created, and with any luck I will find myself back there one day. No, it won't be the same - the people will be different, there will be a different atmosphere and I myself will probably have changed. But none of that matters. It's like Sarah said while we were in Rome, she will always have to visit the Janiculum because she lived there while abroad. I, likewise, will always have to visit those places where we made the fondest memories - S. Maria in Aracoeli and the Castel S'Angelo to name only two of the many. So, although I must acknowledge that my adventure time is over and begin looking for a job in NJ while I unpack all my things from Italy, Rome will always be with me in more ways than one. I will never really say goodbye because I will always have those memories, and I will always feel that loss. Sure, I will see most of my classmates on campus in the fall, and I will have those baubles to remind me of the city - but I will always miss the Rome I found these past few weeks, the people I've become close with, and the moments we all shared. I'm happy to say I have Roman Fever, and it's not going away any time soon.