The End of an Era...

...and the beginning of a brand new one.

On Friday, I took my final final exam. It was a moment that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I have been ready for this chapter of my life to be over for quite some time now, but even so I couldn't imagine the mix of emotions that would come with it. From excitement to stress and anxiety, I've gone through the entire range of emotions over the last three months, and last week it all culminated in a much-needed calm and collected feeling with the slightest tinge of nervousness.

For seventeen and a half years, my life revolved around my education. Going to school and doing my school work always took priority over anything else, which many times - when I obtained good results - served me well, and other times - when I wanted to spend less time in front of my books and more time doing other things - made me incredibly frustrated.

Practically, I've been a student for most of my life, and now it's hard to even imagine what it is like to not have a set schedule and homework almost every day. Sure, as a student you get every summer off, but there is always that bittersweetness once the middle of the summer break hits and you know you're heading back to the school halls soon, whereas now the future is wide open.

For many years, I absolutely loved being a student, but over the last few years, I was getting more and more anxious to really live life and not just study about it, and now that I finally get the chance to do just that, I want to really enjoy it; I want to take this last month of 2012 to relax and delve into personal projects that I've been dreaming about for longer than I can remember and never had enough time to accomplish; I want to savour this time before I begin my job search and my working life, because I know, now more than ever, that it is a truly special time.