St Andrews vs William and Mary: Goodbyes
With the final craziness of exams and last-minute revision, the academic year is at a close. Our exchange students here will be departing university grounds soon, just as our students abroad will be finding their way home in the coming months. It’s a season of endings and goodbyes, and though I’m only a third-year, it’s my final farewell to St Andrews as my full-time academic institutions.
As a rising fourth-year in the Joint Degree Programme, in the fall I will be returning to the College of William & Mary, which I haven’t been back to since 2017. Nearly two years later, I’ve changed a lot as an individual under the positive influence of St Andrews. How this new individual—better dressed, more outspoken, and well-travelled—will tackle the campus…time can only tell. I’m beyond excited for my homecoming, but it comes at the cost of a heart-breaking departure. I will be leaving behind some amazing friends in this amazing town next academic year at the same time I return to other great friends in cute Colonial Williamsburg. It’s a system of exchange, of compromises and trade-offs. This for that, Wawa for Tescos, old friends for new ones.
While St Andrews is considered my host university, by spending my last two years here, it has properly become another home for me. I’ve been split apart all over the world; from my hometown back in California to Virginia and the friends I’ve made at William & Mary, and now here. This means I’m lucky enough to have a special place all over the world, a familiar space with friends and fun guaranteed. It also means I’m always leaving something behind: Cinderella’s slipper at midnight, but I find a replacement pair of shoes wherever I go. Returning to William & Mary means I’m recovering a lost item, and I’m excited to see how well it fits after all the time that has passed.
As I prepare for both a departure and a homecoming in the coming months, I want to give some closure on my contributions to this blog. I hope you’ve found these posts interesting! There is a lot for us to learn about the world, so whether you’re a St Andrews student reading these to learn about William & Mary or vice versa (or both if you’re in the JDP with me!) or someone exploring study abroad opportunities, I hope these have helped you discover more about two fantastic universities on different sides of the Atlantic.