And I'm off ...

At 15:30 today I dropped my 3 essays in the honours politics and international relations box, essentially completing my academic obligations until I return from traveling on 5 April. I still have three tutorials and one lecture to attend next week, but those are the last times I'll be in a classroom until I take my first final on 7 May. As excited as I am for all of my travels, it's rather bittersweet. Not that I still want those papers hanging over my head, but because I truly love my three classes this semester and will be sad to see them end.

Edinburgh has clarified so many things for me academically, that I know I'll always be grateful for my time here. American politics, particularly legislative behaviour, was what got me into political science - but other fields in the discipline are why I want to stay with it. Political Science and International Studies are so separate at American University that I spent most of my first two years focused on American politics, but here I've been able to take comparative and world politics courses (Environmental Politics in Europe, The European Union as a Global Actor, and Scottish Government and Politics) and they have completely confirmed that comparative politics is where my real passion in the discipline lies. I've also had some fantastic professors this semester that have not only helped me grow academically, but have also been invaluable in helping me prepare to apply to graduate programs.

So it's both sad and strange to think that I have more than two months left in Europe, but only week left of classes. Tomorrow evening I leave for Dublin and return to early Tuesday morning, with just over 48 hours in Edinburgh until 5 April. This will be my last entry until I return from Ireland, the Highlands, France, Germany, Greece, and Sweden, so I figure that I should leave with a picture I snapped out my window yesterday: