Packing Up Heidelberg: More Than Just a Year Abroad

My apartment is full of boxes, and my flight home is in a few days. As I try to fit a year of my life into two suitcases, I keep getting distracted by the memories. I came to Heidelberg for a Master’s degree, expecting a year of tough classes, late nights in the library, and maybe a bit of sightseeing on the weekends. I got all of that, but I also got something I didn’t expect: a complete rewiring of who I am.

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact moments of change. They weren’t dramatic, earth-shattering events. They were small, quiet things.

It was the frustration of trying to order a coffee in broken German and the small victory of the barista finally understanding me. It was the terror of my first advanced seminar, surrounded by brilliant students from all over the world, and the slow-dawning realization that my voice and my perspective mattered, too. It was the first time a German friend invited me to their home for dinner, and I felt, for the first time, not like a tourist, but like a part of the community.

Of course, it wasn’t all easy. There were days when I was incredibly lonely and homesick, when the cultural differences felt like a chasm I couldn’t cross. There were times when the academic pressure felt like too much to bear. But every challenge I overcame, every awkward social interaction I pushed through, built a layer of resilience I didn’t know I had.

The biggest change, I think, is in how I see the world. Before coming here, my world was my home country, my university, my small circle of friends. Now, my world is a network of friends scattered across the globe. It’s the understanding that there are a million different ways to live a life, to approach a problem, to see the world. My perspective has shifted from a single point to a wide-angle lens.

Packing up this apartment is bittersweet. I’m excited to go home, to see my family and friends, to eat food I’ve missed. But I’m also leaving a piece of myself here, in this city that has been my home and my teacher. I’m leaving the version of me that was scared and unsure, and I’m taking with me someone who is more confident, more open-minded, and more curious about the world.

Heidelberg, you were more than just a line on my resume. You were a year of my life that changed all the ones that will follow. Thank you for everything.