Being here for the past three weeks, I have realized how fast time really does go by and how much we take it for granted. Even though I’ve been going home every weekend and am able to see my family and friends; I have experienced a lot here in Chicago. Whether it is through the Bridge program or just outside of class with some of the people staying in the UC, there has been so much going on that it’s hard for the time to not fly by. This also made me recognize the fact  that I am on my own now; going out and shopping on Michigan Ave. or going to dinner down at Navy Pier, I’d usually be doing with my family and it’s just weird to think that I probably won’t be doing things like that with them for a while.

I’ve been at Navy Pier three times in my life, and one of them was with my family and the past two times were spent with the friends I have made here. The difference between being with my family and being with my new friends, well quite honestly I enjoy the company of my family more than anything else in the world, but the fact that I have made such strong relations between some of the people here within the first four or so days and have laughed so hard to the point where tears fell, just makes this whole program experience a whole lot better. The first week of being here, my roommate decided this wasn’t for her and packed everything back up and chose to leave. That was the week we first took the trip down to Navy Pier and got dinner and made sure she was going to have a memory before leaving Chicago! We all had the best Mexican food, shopped around for a while, took picture after picture, watched the Fireworks, and ended the night on the River Taxi.

It’s hard to believe that all happened three weeks ago, and now we sit here with only four days left of the program. But it’s also something to be proud of because we accomplished something and made it this far.