So many things gained

I am at home now. It is a rainy day outside so most of the day I have been sitting in here sorting through all the stuff I brought home from school. Over the course of the past week I have been home, I realized how much I learned this past semester. It seems like these are things I didn't realize until I was taken out of the city for a few days.

Things I learned from this semester:

1) Independence is awesome. I don't need other people to eat with me every meal and I can decide what I want to do everyday with my time. I am perfectly capable of doing what I need and want to do without the help of others.

2) Be yourself and stand up for what you believe in. I think this one is fairly self-explanatory, but it just came from realizing that I don't need to go with the crowd to fit in. (sounds like a high school thing, but it really was something I dealt with this semester)

3) It is important to take time out of each day to read/journal/pray and spend time with God. It really helped to slow things down a bit when I was go, go, go all the time.

4) I have so much. I spent so much time working with children and meeting many people that opened my eyes to the struggles in the US. I didn't need to go to another country to help out, people are everywhere in need of the kindness of others.

5) I had never really experienced diversity. It was cool to be exposed to all different cultures this semester. Going to all kinds of restaurants, different churches, and even just walking to class I learned so much about people. I guess this one is kind of hard to explain, but I would not have thought that I would have come across so many differences in the short time I was there.

6) Community is wonderful. I had heard about the idea a lot at Grantham, but I think growing close to so many people at MCPC this semester I realized how great it can. Having people you can trust and talk to anytime after just meeting a few months before is great. It is crazy that we all came from different groups at Grantham and formed a new group at MCPC. I will miss it.

Overall, MCPC was a great experience for me, and I will take all these lessons plus everything I learned about teaching and head back to Grantham happy to have spent a semester in Philadelphia :)

The hardest part

Alright, so i have just two and a half more days here in Philly. It is so crazy to think about when i first got here and was driving with my parents into the city. I was so nervous inside about living in the city and making all new friends... I have come so far from that.

Now I don't want to go. I feel like I am just starting to get comfortable with the city....of course, I still don't know all the directions to different places because it is a large city, but i can see myself living here in the future.

I have made so many good friends this semester. i hope we all stay in touch when we get back to grantham! i should be studying for finals right now, but i don't want to because it makes me think about how i am going home once i take the test :/ i mean i do want to be home, but it is hard because everybody else lives so far away and even as much as we say we will get together over the summer, there's a big chance we will not see eachother for about 4 months.

For some reason, i have been fortunate enough not to really cry about leaving. I feel like it's going to happen soon though. Everybody from campus is gradually dissappearing . We said our goodbyes at the church- Epiphany- this morning. I think it made me realize that I will most likely not be attending that church again for a long time. I also realized how nice it will be that i can visit next semester and go there, visit south street, and pretend i still live here.

This semester has been a great experience and i wish i could stay here for the rest of my college experience, just as it was this semester. Celebration weekend was soooo much fun! dance parties, zoo excursions, and eating at an ethiopian restaurant. It has just been one great day after another.

I know that i would like to stay here, but i am also ready to go back to grantham. I kinda just want to skip summer so i can reunite with the girls! The first week back on main campus will be full of stories! it will be great to be back.

I just can't believe the whole semester went by already.

Peace out Philly