My Final Week In The U.S.

It’s officially my last week here in the U.S. before I move away to Argentina for the next 10 months! This summer has been filled with so many emotions: happy, sad, scared, excited, and doing everything I can to squeeze in some final moments of nostalgia and comfortability before my life completely changes! Here’s the recap:

Graduation & Moving out of Nashville!

The last 4 years of living in Nashville and being a Belmont student have flown by and graduation came quicker than I ever thought it could. Graduation week was so bittersweet: it felt like I was finally slowing down to realize all of the sweet things that I was surrounded by & it made me realize I wasn’t ready to leave it all behind me yet, but at the same time I was excited for what was yet to come and grateful that there were so many good things to be missed. This entire week was full of one “goodbye” party after another: my incredible Aloe Family work family (more on that later), the best group of kids I spent the last 4 years pouring into and growing with, my CREW, social entrepreneurship girls, my sweet roommate, and so many amazing friends that have become more like family these past few years. 

My time at Belmont held some of my favorite moments, and graduation day was the perfect bookend to that special chapter. My entire family flew down & we spent the weekend celebrating and enjoying time together. I ended my time in Nashville surrounded by my favorite people laughing & crying on the floor of my apartment while packing up the last 4 years of my life into my car to drive back to Minnesota <3

Saying “see you later” to San Luis, Mexico 

Probably the hardest “goodbye” I had all summer was to my favorite little corner of the world in Mexico. I spent my college career working for a nonprofit that serves communities locally in Nashville and internationally in Mexico, and a small part of almost every month has been spent in this little desert town of San Luis serving, smiling, laughing, crying, loving, growing, exploring, failing, learning, and trying with everything I have to make an impact in this world. I spent my last little bit of time here (at least for the next 10 months – not forever) reminiscing on memories, playing soccer, eating good food, laughing with friends that are really more like family, building community centers and painting churches, teaching English, and laughing through the tears. 

Wedding Weekend!!

One of my final weekends here was spent in Highlands, North Carolina as the maid of honor in my sister’s wedding! It was such a special time of celebrating her & her new husband, and cherishing the last few moments of quality time with my family before I move.  

& So many in-between moments

I’ve been getting a lot of “Are you ready?”, “Are you nervous?”, “Are you excited?” lately. And, honestly, the answer is yes; I’m ready to do something new, I’m nervous about what I don’t know yet, but I’m excited to see where this next year takes me. The truth is, I have no idea what my life is going to look like a week from now, but I am so extremely grateful and overjoyed to be on this journey. 

See you soon, Mendoza!

With love, Sarah