12th-grade high school, also known as senior year.

 

This year feels heavier, but also more precious. It is my last year living for study abroad in Turkiye, and that means soon I will also be leaving study abroad (as a high schooler). Two very similar phrases, but such different feelings. One speaks about being here, soaking it all in, experiencing the everyday. The other speaks about saying goodbye, packing up, and walking away. I think about this difference a lot, especially now that I am in 12th grade, my final year. Soon, the walls of this school, the hallways, the classrooms, even the smallest routines will turn into memories, and I want to capture them before they slip away.

That is why I promised myself to document more. To carry my camera, to film, to make videos or maybe TikToks - not just for others to see, but for myself, so that one day when I am far away, I can press play and feel like I am here again. I want to live it and keep it. Because time has already shown me how fast these four years can pass.

When I think about my class, I am amazed by its diversity. Back in 9th and 10th grade, we were 22 students from 21 different countries. Now, in the science class, we are only 13 people - but still, from 12 different countries. I don't know if many schools in the world could say the same. It feels like every desk in the classroom carries a story from a different country. Some of my classmates are louder and some are hard to approach at first, but each of them has their own personality, their own culture, and their own lessons to teach me. Living with them has been like traveling without moving. Every lunch conversation, every group project, every inside joke has taught me something about the world.

One memory that sticks out for me - maybe it sounds small, but it means so much - is the first time I touched the hair of my African friends. When I was a child, I always wondered what their hair felt like. I would see pictures or videos and my curiosity would grow, but of course, in my country, I never had the chance. Then, living here, I met them in person. The first time I touched their hair, I felt so grateful. Grateful that my childhood curiosity was answered, grateful that I was in a place where different cultures were not just something I saw on a screen but something I could actually experience with my own hands. Even now, whenever I see their hair, I feel that same gratitude, like life gave me a little gift. It might sound funny, but for me, it is one of the signs that living abroad truly widened my world.

The teachers here are another treasure. They are not only guides for our studies, but also companions for our growth. They care about us not just as students but as people. The teachers are so open, so ready to help with both academic struggles and personal challenges. They treat us with patience, kindness, and respect. Some of them are older, but they connect with us so easily, almost like friends. Their personalities bring warmth into the classroom. They make me feel like school is not just a place for lessons, but also a second home (facts).

And then, there is the rhythm of our days - something so ordinary, yet so unique. Here in Turkiye, we have forty minutes of class, then ten minutes of break, and then it repeats. At first, it felt unusual for me, because in my country, we don't use this system. But slowly, I started to love it. Ten minutes may sound short, but somehow, it is enough. In ten minutes, we can sleep, we can play, we can eat, we can rush to the canteen, we can run to the toilet, we can even just laugh and rest. Those ten minutes feel like a gift, a breath of freedom between studies. It is funny, but I think I will miss those breaks as much as the lessons themselves.

Fridays bring another kind of memory. Not every Friday, maybe once every two weeks, but always something I look forward to. We would gather in the office with one of our teachers, just a small group. For about an hour, we would talk - sometimes about a hadith, sometimes about verses from the Qur'an, sometimes about faith in general. The conversations were deep, but they also felt natural, like we were just sharing thoughts between friends. There would be tea or coffee, snacks on the table, and the warmth of voices filling the room. That one hour might look simple from the outside, but for me, it became one of the most meaningful parts of my four years here. Those discussions reminded me that education is not only about knowledge but also about values, connection, and reflection.

When I put all these memories together, I see how much this experience has shaped me. Leaving for study abroad gave me a chance to meet the world, to see different cultures, to touch them, to learn from them. Leaving study abroad, on the other hand, will mean saying goodbye to all of it. And that is what makes this last year so precious - I am aware of the end, so I hold on tighter to the present.

Sometimes, in the middle of class, or during a ten-minute break, I stop and look around. I see the faces of my classmates, the way they talk and laugh in different accents, the way they carry their cultures in small habits. I hear the teachers' voices, guiding us with both knowledge and kindness. I notice the way the sunlight enters through the windows, the sound of footsteps in the hallway, the small everyday details that seem so normal now but will be treasures later.

Maybe that is what makes this experience so special. It is not only the big moments - the trips, the exams, the celebrations - but also the small things. The hair I once dreamed of touching. The ten-minute breaks. The cups of tea on a Friday. The sound of different languages mixing together in one classroom. The strange conversations that make me want to learn another language. These are the things that make my heart full of gratitude.

Four years passed quickly, but they were full. And now, as I live this last year abroad, I just hope I can carry it all with me - the laughter, the lessons, the kindness, the diversity. One day, I will leave, but these memories will stay and…

see you here for a minute every day!