Here I am… Almost finished with my studies. Almost ten years after I finished my high school. I can actually say that I am already done. I’ve handed in all my assignments and don’t have any other exams to write. Tomorrow is my actual last day. I’ll have a team presentation, and then is just partying for the rest of the day. Partying what? What am I celebrating? This is a chapter of my life that is ending and I have met so many people, lived so many experiences. And now what?

In case you are wondering, I studied Bachelor of Business Administration in Sustainability and International Business. Yeah, I know… long title, right? It was almost 4 years of that. Four years of learning, both intellectually and also personally. I’ve learned so much. I still remember my first day at Royal Roads University… It was raining, and I had bought a new umbrella with colored polka dots. I walked down the hill inside the campus to the orientation room… Which was far, far away from the entrance of the university. And wow! So many students there. I could see that people from everywhere were there. One of the first people – or probably THE first person – I met at the orientation was Viral. He’s from India, and he was there to study his Masters of Global Management. He graduated already, and today he works at the school. It’s a familiar face that I get to see once in a while.

I remember how amazed I was to be here. To be in Canada, studying my Bachelors. To study in a Castle, for God’s sake! I still have this feeling, every time I get to RRU… I’m always amazed at how beautiful the campus is, and how nice it is to say hello to everybody.

And now… Now I’m “leaving” this beautiful campus. Today I was super sad that I’ll have to soon say goodbye to Royal Roads. So, I just had my traditional relaxing moment sitting on the grass. Every year – and this is EVERY YEAR – at the end of the semester, I need to just sit on the grass, look at the sky, look at the gooses, peacocks, and admire the Castle. I do that at the end of every semester. And it’s always just me. Just me and Royal Roads.

The first time I did that was right after I wrote a Math exam in my first year. I was really stressed out. After that day, this has become a tradition. No matter if I am just stressed out, or if I am feeling pretty good about exams. I like to sit and watch people walking, peacocks screaming – they scream! Especially at this time of the year.

And today, I did the same thing. I was sitting for nearly forty minutes. It was good because lately, the weather sucks here in Victoria, but as I sat, it got nice and warm. I could hear birds, people, trees moving their branches. And I realized that that was probably the last time I was going to sit there as a student at the end of a semester. I won’t get to do that next December. Or next April. That’s it. After tomorrow, I’m no longer a student at Royal Roads University. It just makes me super happy, but super sad!

It’s the end of a path. I can even use RRU’s slogan here, to say that now it’s life.changing. Like a former professor told me today: “It’s a new beginning”. It is a new beginning. But I can’t leave behind this experience that I had. I know I am one person that complained a lot about how things are done, how the bureaucracy can make things slow… But at the same time, I don’t think I would have had the same experience anywhere else. I did not get to enjoy a traditional university life… but I know that I got more than that. I got another family. There are fights, and there are learning, growth, and love.

My undergrad university life has ended. But not my relationships with my family at Royal Roads (or people that are no longer there!).