Term-end

I'm done! I emailed the last requirement for the term to my professor yesterday midnight, with a concise message: Hi, I'm sending you the class exercise. Have a nice vacation!

But I really didn't believe he would have a nice vacation, considering it was now his turn to check our work. Haha!

Anyway, I like those few moments that follow shortly after you click "send." Never do I feel a greater sense of accomplishment than during these moments. It gives a closure to all the hard work, pressure, the sleepless nights and all the sacrifices that had to be made just to be able to finish. Every time I click that button on my email, I imagine all my hard work traveling into cyberspace away from me, then I heave a sigh of relief. But yesterday was cathartic. I was half-screaming, half-giggling in front of my laptop as I viewed the message on the screen: Your message has been sent. It actually felt like flushing the toilet. It meant I could finally go out to enjoy the sun, and the breezy summer weather. It meant that the second term was finished.

It also meant that my first year in the masters program was officially over. Judging by the number of times I had gone back to smoking over the last ten months, it wasn't such an easy year. I mean, academically. The first months had been especially trying, given the language barrier. We were a small class of ten people, and as the only foreigner in this group whose native tongue wasn't Spanish, I was always on my guard not to look stupid. There were four other non-Spanish guys in class but these were Venezuelans and a Bolivian; the fourth one, an Italian, has been living in Malaga for some 15 years now. So every time I talked in class I was kind of pressured, and I thought hard to make sure I was making sense. Looking back, I see it made me realize how helpful my classmates and professors could be.

So what's in store for me next school year? I don't know exactly, but I've got some plans. In the meantime, I will look forward to my backpacking tour next month, recharge, enjoy the sun, and take my own sweet time.