My artifact is my Oyster card from London. This was how we paid for any type of public transit throughout the city. So it’s a reminder of both an incredible experience, and a really big lesson the incredible experience taught me.
Early in the week, I lost this specific Oyster card. I realized right before we left for the Tube, so I kinda needed it. I had to go through the process of buying a new one, otherwise I would have been stuck walking (which I was getting enough of otherwise, let me tell you). I have always tended to be a bit scatterbrained when it comes to keeping track of things. This year, I’ve replaced my buck id once, and lost it about twenty times. Somebody even tracked me down on Facebook to return it one time. So, when I lost this thing I was not surprised, and neither was my roommate Vanessa. Honestly, I didn’t even really panic. I got a new Oyster card, and used it for the remainder of the trip, then somehow had two Oyster cards when I unpacked after I got back home.
If there is anything this trip taught me most, it was that things don’t always need to go according to a plan to work out.
This Oyster card reminds me of that. Sometimes you lose things, and sometimes your four year plan completely changes because you change your major. Improvising is a big part of life. This trip helped me learn that even though I want to be a planner when I grow up, planning isn’t all there is to life.