“This is not a goodbye, انشاءالله, it is a see you later.” These are words from my Arabic teacher that will always stick with me. 

Over the course of six weeks, I managed to have the most surreal, amazing, and the most beautifully human experience of my whole life. To say that I recommend everyone study abroad at some point in their life is an understatement. I learned so much and met so many amazing people in such a short time, that it’s hard for me to believe that something so monumental could come to an end so quickly. People that I have known for less than two months now seem like I’ve known them my entire life. I gained more knowledge in six weeks than all my knowledge accumulated in 10 years of private education. 

As cliche as it sounds, I am proud of myself. For me, this is no small accomplishment. Having gone into the program with EXTREMELY minimal experience in the Arabic language, I acquired more knowledge and skills than I ever thought possible. On top of that, I met people that I will be friends with for the rest of my life. It’s bittersweet to be home. I’ll never be able to go back and recreate the experience that I had this summer; but in a way, that makes it all the more beautiful. NSLI-Y Marrakech is a moment in time that I will never be able to capture again, but that’s what makes that fleeting chapter in my life so much more fragile and perfect.