You know when you're reading a really good book, you can't put it down, but you start to realize you're running out of chapters? It's partly exciting because you want to know how it's all going to end, yet at the same time you want to slow down your reading to make the book last longer so you don't have to say goodbye to that world?
That's how I feel right now.
This week really made me reflect on relationships. I have been very fortunate to have lifelong friendships - I am still close with people that I have known since I was 3 or 4. I know how rare that is and I know how strong that bond is. What I can't fully understand or articulate is how strong the bonds are here in Cambridge. Some of these people I've known since September, and others I didn't talk to until January. All of these relationships are less than a year old! I used to think time was what was needed to get close and be vulnerable with others, but now I'm not so sure.
Yesterday, Rebecca posted in our class WhatsApp this definition from UrbanDictionary...the most reliable of all the dictionaries. If this isn't the definition of so many of the relationships that I've made while in Cambridge, I don't know what is. Only, perhaps our blue is more of a Cambridge blue ;)
Monday night ended at Queens' when a group of us unexpectedly all ended up at QBar. All hoping for bar food, and only some hoping to study. Cody, Emily, and I reluctantly left the group to go study for our M&A exam. The fun crew was still at QBar when we finished. Hoods galore.
Tuesday brought more studying for M&A, but this time we took it outside and had a nice little catch-up in the secret gardens at Queens'. Always finding new hidden gems in the college!
That afternoon we had a 'board impact' class, which turned into a t-shirt folding competition class, and I was transported back to life skills week of senior year at STE. This class was all about how you communicate and why that matters. It also gave Jo, Dom, Rebecca, and me a chance to practice writing with our non-dominant hands.
Wednesday was both fun and stressful. Wednesday was the day that I had to turn in a seating chart for ~300 people to a venue for our Judge May Ball. Wednesday was also the day of my M&A exam. Wednesday was also the day of the 2nd MBA Talks. Wednesday was also the day of my radio debut. So overall, not a lot happening on Wednesday.
Chad and I had the chance to talk about Texas and country music on Hadeel's radio show! Chad talked country music, and I talked Texas and Texas A&M University - thanks and gig'em. If you're interested in listening, fast forward to the 11-minute mark! https://www.camfm.co.uk/player/43481
Thursday meant lectures all day and facing the music to start writing essays for this term. But the day ended with another weekly happy hour at The Anchor - forgot to snap pics this week, oops. Did a quick workout with Rebecca then grabbed my newly found favorite meal in Cambridge.
I had no lectures on Friday so I typed and typed and typed. Let me know if you want to talk about the UN Sustainable Development Goals and how the space industry can support them, I got you. Friday was perhaps one of the most fun nights I've had in a while. We had plans to attend a beer festival in Jesus Green, but instead sat on the grass outside of the festival and tried our best to break our bodies. At one point Emily looked at everyone and said we should make a human pyramid. That was a good enough reason, so we did it. And it only got crazier from there. We laughed the night away, truly, so much fun.
On Saturday, Rebecca and I hung out allll day. I went over to her place to make salsa and tacos for some people then we had an ESG clothing swap for all the ladies in the class. Good to clean out the closet a bit!
Today I checked another College Chapel service off my list at Jesus. Then met up with Rebecca and some of her friends from the US! Helped be a tour guide - it's pretty fun to be a tourist in your own city. We learned that we need to go back to the St. John's Buttery. Also did our first punt tour with our guide extraordinaire, Jaime. He even let me punt for a bit! Met up with Thomas, Emily, Maddy, and Bharath for Chinese dinner and Jack's Gelato. Made for a wonderful end to the week!
I have avoided writing this blog post because it is the end of a chapter in many ways, and quite frankly, I am not ready to turn the page. For once, I find myself at a loss for words...I'm just as surprised as you are. As always, thank you for reading, and please bear with me one last time as I reflect on my Cambridge experience. As I look back on my time at Cambridge, I can't help but smile. This program, this place, and these people have changed my life in ways I still can't possibly know or appreciate. How can I find the words to express what this programme means to me? As much as I've tried to find an eloquent and succinct way to summarize it, I have realized I can't. But, I have documented it - here. This blog details the experiences, the emotions, and the incredible people that made this something I don't want to say goodbye to quite yet. They say don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened. I say that's a grand trivialization. B...
I wasn’t sure if I would ever pop on here again, but here I am. Funemployment is a term that has risen in the past few years to refer to the unemployed time frame for people who choose to enjoy it. I’m over here still trying to find the fun part. Kidding, kinda. Of course, it’s nice to sleep in and see where the day takes me. But, I miss a steady paycheck, and even more so the fulfillment I have had when working. A popular question has been asking me what it’s like to be back ‘home’. (Avid blog readers will know that home is a bigger word for me nowadays.) But, I’ve responded that it’s like putting on a pair of jeans for the first time after wearing shorts for months, or wearing heels after wearing trainers. Everything fits, but it just feels weird for a bit. There’s an adjustment period to get your body used to those things again. Coming back to Texas has felt like that. In so many ways, I don’t feel different, but I know I am after the past year of experiences. Similarly, ...
What is a legacy? In the Hamilton musical, Lin Manuel Miranda said that it's 'planting seeds in a garden that you never get to see.' Visiting Egypt for the first time, I couldn't help but marvel at what a legacy these people made. Could they have known that their structures would have stood the test of time and made people question everything. Seeing these marvels, I wonder, what are we leaving behind for the next generations. What lasts? What survives? Are we just playing a really long game of telephone? I still remember a conversation with my best friend from college talking about our goals in life and mine was to be in a history book one day, I said I would even take just being an author of one. I realize there’s a lot of ego in that statement. But I don’t think it’s bad to want my time on this earth to be impactful. But truly, you look at what the Egyptians left behind and talk about being remembered in the history books. Many Egyptians would stop us and ask us w...
I’ve had too much travel time this week, either on a bus around Kangaroo Island or on a plane to Japan. My mind wanders during my free time and what you read next is the consequence of that. If you remember, last week I mentioned how Australia was the farthest place I had ever been from home, yet was also the place that reminded me the most of home. From that inference, I’ve been thinking a lot about what home is. There are the typical idioms that you hear, home is where the heart is, a house is not a home, home is where you hang your hat, there’s no place like home …you get it. Is home a place? Is home a feeling? Is home where your people are? For me, I have always considered Houston home. It’s where I was raised, it’s where my family is, heck it’s where I’ve spent the majority of my life, surely that must be home. But, I’ve also started to consider the UK home. I have no roots there, but I feel like I’ve truly come into myself there in many ways. Could that be home? Oddly enough, Den...
Well, this post is coming out later than expected due to the ridiculousness of trying to get back to Cambridge from Stansted airport...I could not get transportation back to Cam on Sunday night, so I ended up booking a hotel room by the airport and setting an alarm to take the 6:12am train back home. Naturally, that train was canceled so they put on a different train that would require a transfer to Cambridge. That transfer never came :) so I ended up making friends with three other stranded souls and we split a cab back to Cambridge. It's been an eventful 10 hours. back to regularly scheduled programming This was an odd week, after having spent the weekend at Judge learning how to code in Python, I didn’t have another class at Judge until Friday! Monday started with a chat with a potential future Judge student who’s interested in pivoting into the space sector, always happy to chat with folks who are interested in space! Later in the day, we had a career event with a deep tech V...
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