Last week, I sold my bike. Walking back from campus without my vintage-style pink bicycle was the first time I truly realized just how soon my time here will come to an end. 

Tonight, I sit in an empty bedroom, only accompanied by two packed suitcases and a backpack at the end of my bed. The walls, once covered in lights, posters and German grammar rules, now loom, empty and white. I’ve spent the past two weeks ripping down decorations and frantically trying to fill in the chipped paint left in my wake. 

I packed and repacked and packed once again, each time failing to end up with a suitcase weighing under 50 pounds. 

I think back to when I was packing to come here initially and ended up with two full suitcases filled with pounds and pounds of clothing, shoes and random household goods I never once used after unpacking. This time, after donating all of my unused clothing and goods, I am left to do the impossible: choose between leaving my chocolate or leaving my books. 

I decided, after weeks of deliberation, that an additional suitcase is the only logical option, for I feared that anything left behind could have been an important memory I’d be missing out on. But while the chocolate and random sheets of homework, books I found along the side of the road, and typical touristy t-shirts are all important memories, the things I will miss most and remember most fondly are those I’m unable to bring home.

I’ll remember the wildflowers, scattered spontaneously throughout the seemingly never-ending field overlooked by my balcony. I’ll remember the hours spent perfecting my German “Rs,” though admittedly they’re still a bit off. I will dearly miss the disgustingly named but deliciously flavored “Leberkase,” or liver cheese, and mostly I will miss the fairytale-esque views of the walk to campus, complete with hot air balloons, a castle and the colorful facades of the centuries-old buildings lining the Neckar River that Tubingen is famous for. 

I will leave Tubingen with a favorite quote of mine by Leonardo da Vinci in mind: 

“For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” 

For me, Germany is the sky, and here I will forever long to return. 

— Shannon Rabotski is a 2016 graduate of Monroe High School and is a junior at Drake University. She has spent the past year studying abroad in Tubingen, Germany and this is her final column. She can be reached at shannon.rabotski@drake.edu.