Leaving the Burg

It's a sad time. I'm listening to Old-Fashion Christmas music on accuradio here in Newman Hall while I write out a few more goodbye notes to my girls. I feel so much like a mom about to leave her 30+ girls. Thankfully, they're being left it good hands. The new RA taking over for me, Dawn, is incredible! And she's got a great staff to work with, too.

Helping along with the staff next semester will be Erick, the Prefecto from Tec de Monterrey, who I will be directly exchanging with. He's coming in January to Virginia Tech to be a RA and I'm going in January to Tec de Monterrey to be a Prefecto. We're the forefathers for this pilot direct RA exchange that is rooted back to our October 2006 RA Rendevoux conference in Monterrey, MX.

Saturday, I will leave this much loved town of Blacksburg. The procrastinator I am, of course I have not even started to packed yet. But I will be packed on Saturday at 10am when my uncle, my sister, and I roll out of this Hokie Stoned
comfort zone of mine.

The fact that I'm going to be an RA (aka Prefecto in Spanish) in another country has not yet sunk in fully. Maybe it's because things we've only finalized the agreement within this past month. Maybe it's because there are some details I still don't know about. But more logically, the fact has not sunk in yet because I'm so excited! It seems too good to be true! I'm going to be spending my last semester as a VT undergraduate and RA in Mexico. What a great capstone experience for an International Studies and Film Communication Major!

Leaving the Burg is a double sided coin, much like this RA exhange. I'm sad to leave, but excited to go. I'm sure Erick feels the same way.