The summer break is on its way

Spring has sprung @ Heidelberg

Spring has sprung. Flowers are flourishing all over the places. A herd of sheep delightedly enjoys the weather, grazing together with the lambs next to the students’ houses. A ray of sunshine enters the students’ rooms, inviting them to enjoy the warmth outside and to forget the importance of sitting on their desk in the midst of their study. “We cannot go,” they say to the sun. “Please understand me; IB exam is here.”

The exams just started this Monday. The second years are doing their final IB exam until the next two weeks while we the first years are having our last exams of this school year until tomorrow. Then, the first years will have an outdoor project this weekend and some classes to finish off the first year syllabus in the next two weeks. And after that, the summer break. The summer break is on its way.

Wait, wait, it is not going to be that simple. There will be a lot of things between the exams and the summer break: cleaning up, packing up, closing ceremony, disorientation week. However, there are some things that we will certainly have: emotions and goodbyes. It is a risk of meeting new people and having nice time together. But I don’t to go any deeper about this topic, at least at the moment. There will be the time.

However, it is just strange for me now. Time flies so fast. It is hard to accept the fact that I have lived in this bubble so-called UWC for more than eight months. Eight months have passed. One year ago, I was imagining about the life here. And now here I am: used to all the stuff here, such as waking up half an hour before classes, Mensa food, and check-in time. A lot of things happened, a lot of things were gained. Experience, knowledge, friendships.

And now, the summer break. The summer break is coming, the summer break is on its way. Three weeks left. Going home. Family, friends, food. Excitement. After three weeks, we the first years will be away from this bubble for quite a while, coming back to our old lives in our home sweet home.

Nonetheless, it means there is only three weeks left before my first year ends. It is hard to say how it has been. I still want to do a lot of things in UWC, and even though I will still have one more year, first year is first year and second year is second year. It will be different in a way to another (e.g. missing second years). A nice first chapter of my UWC experience must be closed in a good way, before heading off to the coming summer break. If you were me, what would you do?

Lots of love,
Bayu Ahmad