And I'm almost there!

It's been quite some time since my last blog post, and I'm very sorry for that but I have been rather busy.  After my trip with my mom, I ended up getting rather sick for several weeks. Then once I was well enough I had to head back into work and make up for lost time. I've been able to make great strides in my work and have been able to travel to a few more places, including Barcelona for a few days. Overall the past month has been filled with a lot of positive things.

I know that there are other Fulbrighters who decided to end their time early to travel and relax before they returned to the US or began their new adventures in graduate school, and part of me wishes that I had done just that. The other part of me is extremely grateful that I continued to work until the end. If I had decided to leave early, I never would have finished my project. I got more than 50% of what I wanted to accomplish down within the past week. That would have never happened if I had gone galavanting across Europe for a month. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with enjoying the time you have in Europe. I just feel that I have had a lot of time to travel and to see so much more of Europe than I would have been able to see had I not done the Fulbright. I also know that I came to Germany with a purpose, to complete my Fulbright research project. If I had returned to the US without doing that, I would have felt as though a good portion of my time here was a waste. It does not mean that my time here would have been a waste if I had not finished my project, but it would have felt that way to me. I don't like to leave things unfinished.

I know that I will always look back at this time and see how some things could have been done differently, but overall I am satisfied with what I have been able to see and do this past year abroad. I'm going to make the most out of these last 7 days because I never know what the future holds. It astounds me that I was able to not just make it through my time in Germany, but also to flourish in it. I've grown so much as a person and as a scientist, and I feel prepared to return to the US and begin the next stage of my life.

While I was sick I passed the time watching Disney movies. If you are ever in need of some serious advice, Disney is the place to get it. I'd like to share some quotes with you that I feel sum up my time in Germany. I hope that these will inspire you to do things in your life you never imagined possible.

"The flower that blooms in adversary is the most rare and beautiful of all." 
-The Emperor, Mulan

"I want adventure in the great wide somewhere, I want it more than I can tell." 
-Belle, Beauty and the Beast

"Sometimes the right path is not always the easiest one." 
-Grandmother Willow, Pocahontas

 "Children have got to be free to live their own lives." 
-Sebastian, The Little Mermaid

"The past can hurt, but the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it." 
-Rafiki, The Lion King

"It's not about what you want, it's about what you need." 
-Mama Odie, The Princess and the Frog

"If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead."
 -Gusteau, Ratatouille 

"Life's not a spectator sport." 
-Laverne, The Hunchback of Notre Dame