Each day has been incredibly long, but three weeks here at Royal Roads University have indeed gone fairly quickly, as many predicted. Now my bags are packed, and the cab will arrive in about 20 minutes to take me and a few of my classmates to the airport. Home, here we come!

Our official three-week residency ended yesterday with a Skype chat with one professor and an in-person chat with two others. A former student who just graduated this year from the same program also spoke to us of what’s to come. Everyone paints the picture of work, work, work, but assures us we can fit this into our lives. Say goodbye to Big Brother and Jersey Shore, though, if those are your guilty TV pleasures. (Mine is Dancing With The Stars, which I refuse to give up!)

There has been much talk of this program as being the beginning of a journey, the first step of not just a two-year adventure, but also of a new stage in our lives. Some of us know what we want the BA degree to do for us. Others will figure that out when we get there. All of us, I think, are excited, eager and hopeful as well as more than a little scared about the next two years of this program.

I went on an official tour of the grounds, garden and castle yesterday, adding a pile of other photos to the many I already have. I thought the photo above, the path leading to a gate that leads to who knows where, captured the feeling of this journey we are on, the possibilities open to us, and the beauty that surrounds us. As with any journey, it’s not just about the destination, but about what we do and see and experience along the way. (That’s the gate at the end of the path, below.)