The week began with a lot of work to do and not a lot of work being done. With deadlines being delayed and assessment shifted around to accommodate those dealing with the timing and severity of recent events, there was a lot of catch-up on. So in the midst of spending the last few days available with my Mum I was cramming like a mad woman.
Monday was Anjila's birthday and also the day she submitted her Bachelor's Thesis to the University of Copenhagen board. So whilst I spent most of the day hanging out with mum and enjoying lunch by the harbour, the night was spent celebrating in style with the Danes (Irish, Americans and Faroese). With champagne in hand we toasted to both an education to be proud of and the ability to bullshit work at the last minute for dramatic effect. The following hours then saw me living out the toast in action and writing an eloquent but very overdue literature review.
Tuesday was a day for study and class as my last full day of the UCSB courses before the end of the quarter. Nostalgia set in as I groggily wandered to Phelps Hall and caught Tim on his way to Physical Chem, a tradition of the Tues / Thurs walk. Sitting through classes I spent a large portion of the time trying to literally recount the past quarter to try and figure out how it had actually been 10 weeks since I first stepped into the classroom. I was prepared before Spring started that the quarter would go quickly, yet I never could have anticipated the intensity of the activities, pace and excitement.
To celebrate the last night with Mum in Santa Barbara, we planned a picnic at Sands Beach, fit with appetizers, drinks and a beautiful view. The picnic was the perfect way to spend our final evening together in the California dusk.
After the picnic Mum dropped me back into IV to go to our last session of trivia at Woodstocks. The Tuesday night tradition started on week one of our exchange and was at first a great way to meet people and find out more about some of the exchange students. However it quickly became a fun and relaxing way to start the week and catch up on the range of activities which filled our weekend days. The last session saw some extra team members join the troop and our team 'Falcon' take out a win on the Monopoly round. It was an awesome way to end our trivia tradition and celebrate how far our friendship has come.
At first it was strange introducing my Mum to IV, but seeing her go was even weirder again. Although I will see her again very soon it was so much fun to show her my temporary home. Once she sets out on the journey back to LAX I madly started studying for my final thursday and eating copious amounts of sweets to keep me awake.
Thursday was indeed my last day of the UCSB classes and my final time on campus as a full-time student. It is incredibly hard convey how attached I became to UCSB and Isla Vista during my time living there. The classes were engaging and refreshing compared to my studies at home and I will certainly miss the student culture and life around campus. My Swiss lecturer for Enviro Politics was super sweet and had me tearing up with an adorable powerpoint slide wishing us all a great summer. I then completed the busy day with my first and last final of the quarter in Phelps 3515. The sociology final was a pain but leaving the room I had a feeling of liberation and sadness that the end had come so soon.
However the week finished on a happy and musical note, with the last Open Mic at 6753 Sabado. It was a bittersweet moment to enjoy the company of many nearly graduated UCSB seniors celebrating their wonderful 4 years and my amazing 6 months with them. The Open Mic was a huge success, fit with Franzia (CA version of goon) and some incredibly talented acts. The Open Mic's have been some of my favorite nights in IV and I feel privileged to have been in the company of so many wonderful individuals.
(The clan walking back to Sabado after one of the final Freebirds trips)
The weekend saw some fun activities in the lead up to our final week in IV. Whilst most of it consisted of drinking / studying and freaking out about packing, we also went to do some sophisticated things like seeing Cassie's end-of-year art exhibit. To achieve full credits Cassie took a sculpture class for her final quarter and the exhibit put on by all of the art students was impressive to say the least. Maggie's painting exhibit was very cute (as pictured above), however my favorite was the ink printing. Mingling and looking at art whilst having cocktail food and champagne was a delightful way to ease into our last week in the California sun.
Nina
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