I stole the title of this post from Emma’s revelations.

Maybe it’s just me being too sentimental but as there is exactly one month until the end of this year, and I already can’t deny the sweet nostalgia and slight melancholy creeping up on me.

But in my defense I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say I have had some of the best times of my life in the past year. The opportunity to go on an exchange is like being given another life to live. Its impacts are unbelievably revelatory and yet you don’t realize them until almost the very end; then suddenly you find yourself shifting through all the memories you have made this year and wanting to binge-listen to old Coldplay songs. (No? Just me?)

There is also something about the mentality of being in a completely new place for a year. Not only are you reinventing yourself, but you go traveling, become more adventurous, are faced with completely different challenges and see other sides of yourself and the world with minimal prejudice.

I will really miss this place, the people, the university, and the cultural vibrancy. But I won’t miss the feeling that everything is possible. I won’t miss the curiosity when faced with something unfamiliar and the tenderness with which to discover and learn, because I’m sure they’ll stay with me forever.

So yes, let’s be exchange students forever. Let’s seek and discover and understand and be amazed and inspired and uplifted. Let’s break boundaries and make connections and internalize beauty.

Anyways, here are some memories. It’s such a perfect day.

Philadelphia Museum of Art

Philadelphia Orchestra

Chestnut Bridge

Quad, UPenn

Around 45th and Baltimore

Goodnight, Philadelphia.