One year ago...

I was sitting in Professor Bawa's office with Mitul discussing our presentation on the social construction of healthcare. I opened my computer to look something up. And there it was, my email welcoming me to the CLS program. I didn't know where I was going then, but I knew that my life was about to change forever, that I was going to have the summer of a lifetime in Tunisia, Jordan, or Egypt.

It was a magical moment. I remember sitting there, through the rest of the meeting, carrying on about the social construction of healthcare and forcing myself to contain my excitement. I walked around for months in a state of bliss.

As the specifics came in, as I found out I was placed in Egypt, the plane tickets arrived, the documents to sign...every annoying little preparation sent a surge of excitement up my spine.

Now, a year later, several of my peers from Egypt have found out that they will be returning to the Middle East to continue their studies.

I am jealous. I am longing. I wish I could have committed more of this year to continuing my Arabic studies. I wish I could have reapplied for CLS. I wish to be in my own shoes again. The ones from last year. Yeah, those shoes fit well.