Part Deux- The Beginning

It was a big surprise when I walked into school on Monday morning and realized, unlike everything I was expecting, that I was happy to be here.

I spent the latter portion of the summer working myself up about being in Barcelona again. I was worried about my shrinking desire to wake up and go to class, do homework, to once again be a student. It’s oftentimes hard to make the jump from one extreme to the other. The summer was a summer of freedom- of relaxation- of indulgences. School, on the other hand, is full of schedules, obligations and one of my biggest fears- order.

Instead, I walked in and as I saw classmate after classmate- my heart warmed. I was genuinely happy to see the people who both endured and enjoyed the MBA alongside me all last year. It was gratifying to be with them again, at the start of the second year, knowing that we made it through the tough part- and more importantly, we’re now commencing the “fun part”- or so I hear.

I often talk about how these people have become a type of family- however much we may like or dislike each other- we are all somehow interconnected and furthermore, dependent on one another. Yet when I saw the familiar faces walk down the familiar halls and give me familiar hugs- I felt like I came home again. And that was shocking- that I had feared coming back to a city that was not my own, to a group of people that didn't even know my name a year ago- and I actually felt, after a very long summer, like I belonged here.

So I went to my locker, took out my course book, walked into class and began the second year of my business education…all in the company of my friends.

The funny thing is that now my fear has changed- instead of being anxious about being here- I’m terrified of it ending. But I guess that's the case with all good things in life- they go too quickly yet inevitably, leave impressions that last forever.