When I was young I used to love diving in the swimming pool. The act of submerging myself into water, the sheer power of the rush--from air to water--was like magic. One of my favorite things to do in the pool was swim below the surface and look straight up. A clear sheet lay above me, illustrating a distorted version of the sky. Leaves and blue aqua skies rose above my eyes. The vision was circular, because the depths of the water past my peripheral version blurred, making the sky my main focus.
In seven weeks exactly, almost to the tee, I will land in Cincinnati, Ohio, home after a year away. When I see home, I see it like the sky in the swimming pool--as a sort of blurred vision that seems close, but is separated. I could only see the sky with this beautiful, but distorted picture from underwater. When I would emerge, the reality of the whole world came back.
After two weeks back at Oxford everything has fallen back into its usual place. My tutorials, my workload, my friends. But something is different this time because now, with this term, I know it's my last. There's a realization that every week of struggles will be my last. I've met my last tutors, scheduled my last classes, begun my last term. And that's both a strange concept and a rewarding one. I've been in Europe for a little over 7 months and I'm now entering the final haul.
As I step into every last week--nought week, 1st week, 2nd week and so on, I know that I'm close to seeing my family and home friends again, but I also know that I'm closer to the end of this chapter of my life. It's an unfinished story for now, but it's something I'll carry forever.
When I would float below the surface, I would only have thirty seconds to enjoy my swirled sky. In the scheme of my life, this year is but a blip. Floating below the surface of reality--in a different place, with different friends, and different surroundings--I have changed who I am above the surface. I've thought and lived and grown, away from home and all that was familiar. And now my thirty seconds are ticking faster, and I intend to keep them close, and remember the below-water details. This year has been the most independent, difficult, and inspiring year of my life. And when I do break the surface, when I do come up for air, the normal world will never look the same again.
