Last post while in Chicago. The past couple of weeks have been a blur of papers, readings, projects, etc., and I have loved every minute. Friday will be my last day at my internship and I am dreading it. I do not feel prepared to leave the place that has felt like home for the past four months. Trying to find words that express how I feel about my internship proves to be extremely difficult. Explaining the amount of love, passion, desire, joy, excitement, and feelings of worth I get while working there is almost impossible. I will miss this family, I will miss this population, and I will miss Chicago. I do not believe I have completely accepted the fact that I am leaving. I have four days left in this city, three days at my internship, and one day of class. It feels as if I just arrived. I was just walking around the city with Joseph--scared out of my mind. Looking back on my internship, I wonder where the time went. I accomplished and learned numerous things. I am not ready for home, but it is only for a short time. I will then fly off to Thailand for two months and then move back here, Chicago. Chicago will hold either work or school...or both.

I will be a college student for approximately three more days. I have one class, one paper, and three days of work left. Done. We all have worked for the past 16 years to achieve this....graduation. Then what? Job? Travel? More school? Bum around? It is now the time to take initiative. I am ready to move forward; I am ready to finish school. I would have considered school to be one of my favorite things--yes, I am a nerd--but after 16 years, I am ready to call it quits for a bit. I am applying to grad school and believe am ready to take on that challenge; however, I am also ready for the working world.

Excitement fills me when I think about the future, but hesitation comes when I think about what I am leaving behind. This semester was exactly what I needed--a lot of challenges in many ways. Will I be ready to leave it? No. Will I be ready to move on? We will see.

Next week I will visit Dordt and see friends that I have missed for the past couple of months, and I am eager to have conversation.

Finishing this entry is like finishing this semester--I have no words. So, I will leave it there.