Goodbye Ole Miss

Hey there,

Wow, what an emotional week this week has been. It was a week where everything came to an end, and it all happened way too quickly. I had finals early in the week, spent the rest of the week partying it up, and then left Ole Miss on Saturday.

Monday 9 December

Got to wake up at 6:30am this morning as Dylan had to get to school for an 8am final, so of course I went straight back to bed in the dorm when he dropped me off.

Ciara, Georgia and I went to Rebel Market around midday to get some brunch, and stayed there eating and chatting until about 1pm when we finally decided to stop procrastinating studying. I headed to the computer lab in Weir Hall where I planned to spend the next 5.5 hours studying for my exams, in particular my one tonight. I spent an hour or so finishing up last week’s blog post, and then got onto writing notes for my family law class. At around 4:30pm, I received an email from my journalism professor about tonight’s exam saying that it would be on Blackboard (our online student portal). This was great, because it meant I could refer to my notes on my laptop whilst doing the exam, and therefore continued studying for my other finals instead.

I headed back to the dorm around 6:15pm to meet up with the other girls, and then we headed to Rebel Market to get dinner at 6:30pm. I left shortly after, around 6:55pm, to head to my exam, hoping to get a seat up the back so no one would see me geezing at my notes. On the way to class, I chatted to Mum, who was at Melbourne Airport waiting to board her flight here! When I got into the classroom, there was another lady there instead of my professor, so I just assumed she couldn’t make it today and so someone else was observing the exam for her. By 7:30pm, the exam still hadn’t appeared on Blackboard, but the lady said that she was waiting for a potential few extra students to trickle into the classroom. At 7:35pm, she grabbed everyone’s attention and proceeded to tell us that she had some bad news. She told us that our professor was unable to come today because of a family emergency, and therefore had given her her Blackboard login details so that she could go in and open the exam up for us. However, after 15-20 minutes of trying, it still wasn’t working. She’d tried to get in contact with our professor, but her responses were not so quick. However, she said that the last text she received from our professor had said that if she wasn’t able to get the exam opened, then we could all just go home and we would all receive 100% for the exam. The whole class broke out into clapping and cheering – how freakin’ awesome!!!

I had planned after the exam to head back to Weir Hall to study some more, so I went straight there, appreciating the extra time to study. Dylan eventually met up with me, and we studied there until 11pm, grabbed some Sonic to reward ourselves for being studious, and then chilled at his for the rest of the night.

Tuesday 10 December

Had a bit of a rushed morning, having accidentally and without memory snoozed both alarms, so Dylan and I up just before we were supposed to be leaving. It wasn’t a huge rush though, because it was just the time we needed to leave to have time for brunch at the Grill before Dylan had work, but we were hungry and wanted to make it. When we left the house, we noticed that a very light snow-type substance was falling from the air. By the time we were driving onto campus, it was proper snowing!!! We were covered in snow from walking from the car to the Grill. For food I had pasta (of course) and some breadsticks. Mum messaged me just as we hopped back in the car, letting me know she was in LA and all good, and I showed her the snow, which was now even heavier than earlier. Dylan dropped me at my dorm, and then Dad facetimed me and I showed him the snow too.

I spent the next few hours studying for my first of two exams today – my Drug Crimes Enforcement and Criminality class. Considering our professor had literally read the exam out to us in our last class, I wasn’t too stressed. Georgia and I spent half an hour or so quizzing each other, and then we headed to the exam just before it started at 4pm. As expected, the exam was literally everything he’d read out to us, and was just 50 multiple choice questions long and he didn’t care at all that Georgia and I were helping each other with the answers. There were only a few questions that we weren’t completely sure about, but at the end of the day we have almost 100% in this class so it didn’t matter. We were in and out in 6 minutes!

I grabbed some lunch after the exam, and then headed back to Weir Hall to knuckle down for the next few hours and study for my second exam of the day. Amongst texting mum a bit after she arrived at her next stopover in Minneapolis, where she had her first run in with self-flushing toilets (which are very common in America), I ran over the notes for my next exam. I was a little stressed because it was my Domestic Crimes and Family Law class, and we were having to memorise a bunch of definitions, conditions, eligibility criteria etc. for various crimes and prevention orders, but ultimately I tried to chill out because I’ve already got a passing grade in this class.

I headed to the exam around 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start, and I was out by 8pm. There were several things I wasn’t sure about, but I’m not too concerned. Georgia wasn’t there to help me because she’s sitting the exam tomorrow instead (because she had 3 exams scheduled today, she was allowed to move one to another day, so she chose this one). I then met some of the girls at Rebel Market, which was having a special event called ‘Breakfast for Dinner’, which we were all excited for because we were under the impression that it would include a whole range of breakfast things like pancakes, bacon, eggs, hash browns, sausages etc. and that it would be free. However, we had to pay $5 for it (we couldn’t use our meal swipes), and it was only small pancakes (which they would only give 2 of to you at a time) with some fruit sauces and chocolate chips. It was pretty underwhelming, especially since we’d all spared ourselves from eating earlier on as we expected that this would be our dinner.

After downing some pancakes, I headed to Weir Hall again to study for my final exam tomorrow, which I hadn’t yet done any study for. Dylan surprisingly joined me around 10:30pm, at which time we moved from Weir Hall to the library since Weir Hall was due to shut at 11pm. When we got there, I realised I was super hungry since the pancakes weren’t exactly a substantial dinner, so we ordered some McDonalds on Uber Eats. It was a little awkward bringing it back into the library because I felt like everyone else’s eyes drew to the food because of the smell, but their loss haha. Dylan left around 12:15am, and I eventually left at 1am after finally finishing my notes.

I watched a few YouTube videos when I got into bed, and then headed off to sleep. I was unsuccessful, though, because my mind was occupied over thoughts about how I’m leaving Ole Miss in just a few days, which caused me to burst into tears. I tried to keep quiet so I wouldn’t wake Georgia, but I was pretty much wailing lol. I eventually fell asleep around 3:30am.

Wednesday 11 December

Didn’t want to wake up this morning because I was so tired, but an offer to go to Rebel Market to get food encouraged me to get ready. Ciara, Georgia and I went there around 12pm, and there wasn’t any fantastic food, but at least I didn’t have to have a burger again (as is the case when none of the other places have anything good).

I spent the rest of the afternoon procrastinating studying for my last final tonight by watching Netflix because I just wanted time to pass quickly because I was picking up Mum this afternoon! Finally it got to 3pm and Dylan arrived at the dorm to pick me up. After popping by his place, filling up his car and grabbing him some food, we headed to Memphis. We eventually made it to Graceland around 4:45pm as Mum’s tour was wrapping up here. I jumped out of the car and went over to the entrance to go and grab her. When we were in sight of each other, we both started running toward each other and then had a big hug, and we also both started tearing up a bit. We headed over to the car, Mum met Dylan and then we headed to her hotel to grab her bags and then back towards Oxford. We arrived back around 6:15pm, and since my exam wasn’t until 7:30pm, I thought it would be nice to take Mum to Ajax (a southern diner) on the Square. Unfortunately it was packed when we got there so we headed to Sonic instead. Mum enjoyed seeing the Square at night, though. We ordered our food and then headed to campus because I had a massive bee up my ass about getting to my exam in time. Dylan and Mum were both laughing at me about how stressy I was getting. I got there with plenty of time, so I sat in the car with them until it was time to head inside, and then Dylan went to drop Mum at her hotel.

My exam went better than I expected, and it was over and done with in 40 minutes. I definitely think I passed, but I don’t think I aced it, but it doesn’t really matter because I already had a good grade and I only need a passing final grade. It was such a relief to be done and now get to finally enjoy my last few days in Oxford. I headed towards the bus stop at Student Union hoping I could go and hang with Mum at her hotel, but I’d just missed the last one, so I headed back to my dorm instead. No one was around as they were all either in an exam, still studying for their upcoming exams, or out celebrating being finished with others. I facetimed Dad for a bit and then headed to the laundry to do some washing. Georgia eventually got back from her last exam around 9:30pm and we celebrated being finished by cracking open an alcoholic beverage. I then left the girls to go and spend the night at Dylan’s, and on the way there we saw some deer strolling the streets! We finally finished Pulp Fiction and I really enjoyed it, although I’m left with lots of questions.

Thursday 12 December

Dylan and I had a lazy morning, then went and grabbed Mum from her hotel and the three of us headed to the Grill for lunch for what would be my last trip there. I of course had pasta, but unfortunately pasta lady was on register duty instead so someone else made it and it therefore wasn’t as good. Dylan dropped us back at my dorm and then he headed to work.

I showed Mum my room and then the girls all came in and met her and we chatted for a while before they all headed off to lunch and Mum and I went outside to hop on mine and Georgia’s bikes so I could give her a tour of campus. We stopped at several places to take some pics and I ran a few errands along the way, including getting cash out and paying my bursar account.

We then left our bikes at Student Union and caught a bus into the Square so we could have a browse during the day. I picked up another Ole Miss sweatshirt, and we bought some cookies from Insomnia Cookies, but then it started getting pretty cold so we took a bus back to campus.

We headed back to my dorm and Mum kept me company while I started packing my things, knowing I wouldn’t be able to get it all done tomorrow. Mum was then wanting to head back to her hotel to chill and I was going to need to get ready for a party tonight, so we headed to Student Union to get Panda Express for dinner and then I sent her off on a bus and headed back to my dorm.

We headed to Campus Creek (an off-campus apartment complex) to a party being hosted by an American and two Germans at their place. What was supposed to be an international farewell turned into a party with a whole bunch of random Americans we didn’t know (with our international friends, too). Aside from a few games of rage cage, a mini photoshoot outside against a wall covered in Christmas wrapping paper and chatting to a bunch of people, it was pretty boring.

(CJ (Aus/NZ), me, Georgia (Aus), Susanna (Scotland) and Ciara (Ireland))

(Vera (Germany) and me)

I got Dylan to pick me up around 11:45pm both because it was boring and because it was the last night I would be staying at his place. We had a chill night and both fell asleep around 1:30am.

Friday 13 December

Woke up at 6:30am this morning because Dylan had to get up and get ready for his final exam at 8am. We ended up staying in bed until about 7:15am because he wanted more time as he felt like he’d wasted the night by falling asleep on me, but I didn’t mind because I knew he was exhausted and had to be up early. He dropped me at Mum’s hotel on his way to his exam, and I spent the morning with her as well as taking a nap. We headed to Walmart to get a few groceries, then went back to the hotel to grab my extra suitcase, and headed back to the dorm.

The next few hours were spent packing up the room as much as we could since we had celebrations happening tonight and then an early checkout and bus tomorrow. I also dumped a whole lot of giveaway stuff outside of our room – things like coat hangers, food, toiletries etc. – that we didn’t want to or couldn’t take home with us, and I messaged the girls in our dorm to come and grab what they wanted. It was sad packing our home up, but it had to be done. Mum headed back to her hotel to chill considering there wasn’t much she could help with. We then started getting ready for dinner around 5pm, and Dylan came around just before 6pm to give me my Christmas present, which was a photo album that he’d filled with photos of us, letters and inside jokes. It was beautiful and made me cry. He, Vera and I then had to wait ages for our uber to rock up so we could go and meet the others at Rice and Spice for dinner, as they were already there and waiting for us. We had to send them our orders just so the restaurant would let them keep our seats for us. The food was delicious – I had koua gai noodles and fried rice. Mum then left us to head back to her hotel, and the big group of us decided to walk to the Hub, which ended up taking about 30 minutes. Aside from getting surprised by a dead squirrel, it was nice.

We first headed over to Susanna’s apartment so she could get ready, and filled in the time by having a few drinks, contributing to the massive colouring-in picture she and her roommates had hung in their living room, and playing with their next door neighbour’s dog.

When Susanna was ready, we headed over to Alissa’s (German) apartment for the celebrations, as it was her birthday yesterday and her parents had given her $600 to spend on alcohol and food to host a birthday/going away party. We played rage cage and beer pong, chatted to everyone and sung along to some of our favourite songs from the semester (especially the Ole Miss classic “Dixieland Delight”). We then decided to leave and head to the Square, so we had to start saying the first round of goodbyes to people we wouldn’t see again, which included our friends Al and Declan, who were both heading for the airport around 4am. Saying goodbye to them was my first teary moment of the night.

(The Internationals love Dixieland Delight)

We all got the Hub bus to the Square around 10:30pm and headed to our favourite spot – Billups. We spent the night drinking, dancing and had a few teary moments here and there, including one that I had that I ran to the bathroom to try and cover up but the girls followed me in and cheered me up. Dylan stayed the whole night despite falling asleep on the tables because he wanted to stay out with me. I ended up getting cut off by the bartender because I’d ordered a total of 8 drinks and 4 shots, even though I only ended up having 3 drinks and 1 shot (the others were for other people who I ordered for). Declan and Al randomly rocked up around 12am, explaining that they’d had a deal that if they ran back to their places from the Hub and managed to pack their bags quickly, they’d come out and meet us all (they didn’t really care about getting any sleep before heading to the airport).

(Me (post-cry), Vera (Germany), Georgia (Aus) and Ciara (Ireland))

Billups’ lights came on around 1am and we all headed outside to say a bunch of goodbyes. Several people were bawling, but I kept it together pretty well. The girls and I headed to a popular gas station down the road from the Square, known for their delicious chicken on a stick. All semester we’d been meaning to try it, but when we got there they’d sold out :( so we settled for nearby Pita Pit instead, where all our other friends were. Georgia had gotten back on the Hub bus with Susanna and headed there to hang out with a guy, so after eating food Ciara, Vera and I took one last walk through the Square and then got an uber back to the dorm.

Sad that Georgia wouldn’t be spending our last night in our room with me, Ciara came and slept in Georgia’s bed. I spent an hour or so doing some more packing, stressing that I wouldn’t have time in the morning, but eventually headed to sleep around 3:30am.

Saturday 14 December

Ciara and I woke up this morning around 7:30am and got straight to work. I showered, got ready and then continued my packing. Georgia arrived back not long after and got into her packing too. We got done around 8:45am which was great, but we still had some cleaning to do like throwing out trash and getting our stuff out of the room for the inspection. A CA came in at 9:30am to do the inspection, and apart from some plaster that Georgia had torn off her wall by her desk, everything was perfect and we were sent to reception to check out. Closing the door on our very empty room was sad – a lot of great memories were made in there.

(One last pic of Georgia and I in our room, all cleaned out and empty)

After checking out, I headed outside to go and see Dylan, who’d been waiting in his car for an hour to see me, but I wasn’t able to come out until everything was done. I spent some more time with him, went back inside and took one last photo with the girls, and then the bus arrived so we loaded our bags on. I spent the last 20 minutes hanging outside with Dylan, and cried a whole lot more (I’d already started earlier), and was set off again when saying bye to our American friend Griff who was also in tears. It was just about 10:30am and I had to get on the bus, so I said one last very sad goodbye to Dylan and got on the bus. After a final goodbye from two of our international advisors, Maggie and Kayla, the bus took off. I burst into tears again, and didn’t really stop for a good half hour. It didn’t help that I’d only had 4 hours of sleep, but I also knew I would be an emotional wreck today. Everyone did their own thing on the bus – listen to music, nap, stare out the window.

We got into the airport around 12pm and we straight away had to say goodbye to Vera since she had a flight departing at 1pm. We all got super emotional, but it was a little less sad knowing I’ll be seeing her in 3 months’ time when she visits Australia with her boyfriend. The rest of us – Georgia, Susanna, Ciara, CJ, Linda, Marie (another German), Mum and I found some seating and made our station there. At about 12:30pm, Ciara headed off to check in, and we all burst into tears again. This goodbye was a bit harder because we don’t really ever see Ciara cry, so seeing her do so was upsetting, as well as the fact that we won’t see her for at least a year and a half, possibly more than that. The rest of us hung around for a while longer because Georgia, Marie and Susanna’s flights weren’t until 4:30pm/5pm, so they didn’t head off to check in until 2pm. Georgia was the hardest to say goodbye to because it’s going to be so strange and lonely not living with her, and not having her around all the time to joke around with and laugh at the many stupid things she does haha.

(All of us post-cry (but mid-goodbye session): me, Georgia (Aus), CJ (Aus/NZ) and Ciara (Ireland))

(Saying bye to Georgia)

CJ, Mum and I finally headed down towards the baggage claim area around 2:15pm and I called the hotel to get them to send their shuttle bus to pick us up. However, after waiting 40 minutes, the bus still hadn’t shown up so I had to call them back again. It turns out the lady who answered my call had never sent the driver. He eventually arrived about 10 minutes later and he was super apologetic. We didn’t mind a whole lot, but we were glad to get out of the cold.

We checked into the hotel and took some time to chill out before the three of us met up again (CJ is sticking with us for the next 24 hours or so as she’s also heading to NOLA where a friend of hers from home is meeting her there and then they start their travels together). We headed into Beale Street and set ourselves up with some scooters because I really wanted to do that again and show Mum the trail that I’ve done with Georgia, Dylan and Dad. CJ was keen too since she hadn’t had a ride on one yet. We spent 45 minutes on them and we all had a ball, especially Mum who kept doing laps around the park and zooming past at full speed. We then headed back into Beale Street to get some food. After entering and swiftly exiting 2 other restaurants, one because it was charging entry and the other because it had a 1h45m wait, we settled on the same restaurant that Dad, Dylan and I went to back in November. I had chicken tenders and fries, and it was good but filling, so I took the rest home. We headed back to the hotel around 7:15pm.

Back at the hotel, I spent the rest of the night getting everything set out and ready for tomorrow’s early wakeup, drafting my ‘goodbye Ole Miss’ Instagram post, and constantly messaging the girls, who were all on their way home, mostly at stopovers in other American cities. Although I was running on so little sleep, I wasn’t tired and didn’t head to sleep until about 12:30am.

It was so sad saying goodbye to the place I’ve called home for the last 4 months, where I met so many incredible people – many of whom will be lifelong friends – and made an abundance of memories. Having the courage to do something I’ve always wanted to do has fulfilled me in a way that I can’t explain – I’m just so incredibly humbled, content, and so bloody proud of myself. My semester abroad at Ole Miss has been life-changing, and has been everything I hoped it would be and more. It still doesn’t feel real that time is already up, but I hope to come back and visit again some day soon. But for now it’s goodbye, and Hotty Toddy!

On a positive note, I received my final grades back! Although classes were easier, I’m still glad I managed to get such ace grades throughout the semester.

Foundations of Sports (journalism): A – 97%, final exam: 100%

Drug Crimes Enforcement and Criminality: A – 100%, final exam: 100%

Domestic Crimes and Family Law: A – 93%, final exam: 89%

Negotiation and Dispute Resolution: B – 80%, final exam: 82%

This week’s post cuts off at Saturday, as that’s the end of my Ole Miss experience. From now on, blog posts will no longer be by week; instead each city I travel to will get its own blog post, so y’all can look forward to more frequent posts! Not including Memphis, Mum and I are about to visit 6 US cities and 1 Canadian city over the next month – can you guess where? Stay tuned to hear about all the cool things we get up to!

- Emily xx