Study abroad: that big, once in a lifetime experience many college students dream of getting a chance to have. It requires a long, exhausting process filled with searching, essay writing, paperwork, and anticipation. Once you finally hold that envelope in your hand confirming your place in a faraway university, it starts to feel more real.
But that’s only a tiny part of a much bigger journey. Once you know where you’re going, you have even more paperwork and even more anticipation, waiting for the day to come when you step foot on an airplane and begin your journey across borders. For me, I felt a mixture of emotions leading up to my study abroad start date. I felt both excited and nervous, but mostly nervous. Leaving behind everything you know is not easy, especially when you have to navigate your way through a new university, almost as if you’re back in freshman year (aside from trying to find yourself in a new country and culture).
The days following my arrival in England, it felt like I was up for days on end. My body was adjusting to a new place, including the time difference. I had to meet new people, learn a new place, and, most importantly, learn who I was again.
You see, when you’re caught up in all of the hustle and bustle of the life at home that you’re so used to, it’s so easy to lose yourself. Your identity and your daily routine become squished together, until you start to define who you are by the things you do and the surroundings you’ve become so familiar with. My identity consisted of this: working long hours at my job, attending classes and doing everything I could to succeed in them, hanging out with my trusted friends, family dinners and visits, experiencing the unpredictable Colorado weather, driving my Volkswagen beetle… the list goes on and on. These were, and still are, a big part of who I am. These will always be the things I enjoy and look forward to when I return. However, within all of this familiar chaos, I lost other parts of my identity.
I forgot what it felt like to pause for a minute and actually live. Coming to England, a place so unfamiliar, the only familiar thing I had was myself. And yet, because I had become so comfortable defining myself solely by the familiar activities, people, and places I had back home, I realized I had become a stranger to myself. This was when I knew (I mean, actually knew) it was a blessing that I decided to come on this journey. I was skeptical about going at first; my parents were the ones who encouraged me to even apply. And I was still a little skeptical even after stepping off of the plane in London, England at the start of my journey. However, if I hadn’t searched for programs, wrote those essays, and filled out paperwork, I would’ve never become reacquainted with the most important part of my identity: my actual self.
Walking the streets of London, taking a train to Paris, and riding on the longest bus ride ever to Scotland not only gave me the opportunity to explore new places, it allowed me to become reacquainted with who I am. I’m not just the things I do nor the people I surround myself with; those things are extremely important, but they’re not all I’m made of. This journey hasn’t been easy. Going abroad, it isn’t all fun. There have been days where I just felt like I couldn’t take another day. But it truly has been worth it. Study abroad really is the experience of a lifetime, and I would recommend it to everyone, no matter how unsure you are about the change. It’s an experience that’ll change you entirely. It’ll change the way you approach topics, the way you view the world, and it’ll change how you feel about yourself. They weren’t lying when they said that.
Studying abroad is about discovering yourself.