Reflections by Rachel Freeman

Rachel Freeman
Rachel Freeman

So, this is my half reflection.

I’ve been on The Oracle for two semesters now, but I won’t be here next semester which is pretty bizarre. However, I’m only going to Spain for the spring; don’t worry, I will be right back here with a vengeance in the fall. For now though it’s not time to say bye, just see ya later (could I be any more cliché?).

Speaking of going abroad, I’m currently stressing out because this whole visa application process is intense and scary and I have to fill out forms and make sure I have all the right documents when I hop on a bus to New York City in a mere 3 hours to go to the consulate. I’m really freaking out actually, but by the time this issue comes out I’ll be done with that, which is weirdly comforting.

I don’t want to get too sentimental since I WILL be back…honestly, I can’t escape this orange office. I mean, I would have way too much free time and get way too much sleep, and I’m just not used to that kind of lifestyle.

I think it’s pretty significant that I’m having a hard time letting go of something that deprives me of a normal sleep cycle and probably takes up more of my time than my actual homework. I’m only going to be gone for a semester – just a couple of months – but still, seeing that new e-board list is killing me a little inside (it’s 4:01 a.m. so I’m already half dead anyway).

That being said, despite the separation anxiety I will undoubtedly feel, adventuring to Spain is something I need and really want to do. My semester (and general existence) has been consumed by journalism. Three classes plus The Oracle equals a whole lot of articles, editing and essays on the press. I was only in one Spanish class and it was terribly difficult to balance my time between my two majors when one clearly outweighed the other. I see this as my short journalism reprieve where I can actually focus on my Espanol and come back all cool and cultured.

Although I am incredibly excited for this experience because it caters exactly to my wanderlustful tendencies, I’m getting sad while I write this. I am going to miss each and every one of these little buggers who I make a whole newspaper with every week and who probably see me more than my housemates. I’m not going to go into specifics of what each of y’all mean to me – that’s gotta wait for my final reflection when I’m going out into the real world and probably not getting a job since I’m a journalism major, but know that I will be thinking of you every Wednesday. I might be out drinking sangria or eating paella (what’s even the time difference?) while you’re slaving over InDesign and copy editing, but you’ll always be on my mind. And don’t worry, I will probably miss you all more than you miss me and constantly Skype you until you never want to see my face again, but oh well.

Look out for my column in my old features territory because you can’t totally get rid of me.

Until September, then.