Last day at the office

As I was anticipating, my last day at work was bittersweet. I was happy when I got to recycle massive stacks of papers and magazines that were no longer needed (I like to throw things away!), I was sad when I updated our website pages for the last time (one of my favorite parts of my job), happy when I got to go out to lunch with a couple coworkers, and sad when I had to say goodbye. It has been a somewhat gradual change for me because the academic year ended with graduation the weekend before last. That meant I had already said goodbye to all of the students I would likely not see again and many of the professors.

I figured since I'm now done there, I would share some of my office with you! Of course, this post is written just as much for me and my memory :) My favorite part was having two desks - one where my computer and phone sat, and another one where I could pile up paper and do projects. It was also nice to be able to talk to students across a desk without a computer screen in the way.

My computer desk area was where I kept organized. I kept my calendar and phone list there, as well as a map on the wall by my computer so I could easily reference the nearest embassy location to where our students were studying when I registered them abroad. 

One of my favorite parts of my office was my giant window. We didn't have screens on our window, but I was on the third floor so bugs didn't seem to be quite as big an issue. I will miss that window, and my plant! I didn't take the plant home with me because I am horrible with keeping plants alive. I hope my replacement has a green thumb :)

We also collected flags from various countries our international students called home. Unfortunately we didn't have all our students represented, but we had many of them. It was a pretty neat tradition that I hope continues.

Lastly, my Freiburg poster. I left this there hoping it will inspire future students who come into that office to study in Freiburg. It's a gorgeous city with so much history in the middle of the Black Forest. I would go back and live here (with Chris, of course) if I could!

So there you have it - my favorite parts of my old office. Other things I loved: I had over 10 foot-high ceilings and plenty of space, the wooden walls made my office warmer than most others on my hall (the others had cinder block walls), and my office was the first one on my hall so I got to see all our study abroad and international students as they passed by to other offices. I will certainly miss this place!