Kelly Pray
Year: 2013
Major: Global Health
Meet Kelly Pray. She’s HC Berkeley’s newest staff member and currently studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina! She’s taking a full immersion course in Spanish and will hopefully return to the states fluent this fall. Majoring in Global Health, she hopes to earn a masters in Public Health once she graduates from UC Berkeley. A true Californian at heart, she was raised in Pasadena and comes from seven generations of Californians. In her down time, she enjoys writing and spending her days off doing anything outdoors and active, laughing with friends, and pouring over her Netflix account (Pan’s Labyrinth being one of her favorite movies). She loves meeting new people, painting her nails, and a good eggs benedict. In the future, she hopes to take her MPH towards Health Administration and Management.
Here’s a sample of her upcoming travel blog, “La Vida Buena,” we’ll have up and running on Her Campus in the coming weeks-
Abroad and Alone: When Transition Shock Catches up to You
New city, new language, new friends, new boys, and new territory- going abroad for a semester seems like any college girl’s dream come true. To prepare yourself, you pack all your cute winter/summer clothes, work on that tan, and brush up on how to say, “Are you single?” in whatever language suits the country you’ll be traveling. Excitement and anxieties invade your mind as you’re on that 10 plus hour plane ride to an entirely different country. You can’t wait to start over with new friends and lifestyles, and maybe you’ll even pass off as one of the locals.
Once settled in, the reality hits. You don’t understand the language, nobody told you about the unspoken rules like how to flag down the bus and how could you have known that a simple smile at a man on the street is a sexual invitation? What about all those late parties you were so excited for? You are so exhausted from concentrating all day that you barely make it through your 10pm dinner.
Symptoms of isolation, frustration, and disappointment while abroad are NORMAL occurrences that come with transitioning to a new culture. Transition shock occurs when one has a change in the familiar and an adjustment to the disorientation is required.
Luckily, there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel and it isn’t your flight home! Once the days pass by, you will begin to feel more comfortable in your new environment by taking baby steps towards complete adaptation to your surroundings!
Things to help transition shock go by a little smoother:
- Make a point to maintain habits from home. For example, if you do your nails every week, see a movie every Friday, work out three times a week, continue to do so! The routine will make you feel more relaxed and allow you to feel more at home. Most of the differences such as meal times and school are out of your control, but maintaing habits from home will help you keep a peace of mind.
- PATIENCE. The longer you’re established in your city/country, the more you’ll begin to learn the customs and culture, as well as develop a better comprehension of the language.
- Ask for help. Safe sources for friendly information are cafes, restaurants, and stores, where servers and shopkeepers are used to an influx of tourism and visitors.
- Keep a journal/blog. Writing down your emotions will help purge you of your stresses and anxieties.
- Keep in contact with friends and family from home! They’ll remind you of why you initially went on this adventure, and will encourage you as the support system you feel yourself lacking in a new city!
Remember, nothing is going to be immediately easy. However, once you have given yourself time to adjust and master the cultural gap, you will find yourself never wanting to leave!!
Can’t get enough? Go ahead and follow her on Twitter: @kprayy