How to Settle Back into Wake Post-Abroad

They’re back! The so-called ‘Abroad Juniors’ have returned from their foreign escapades armed with more confidence, hundreds of pictures and a Euro-chic wardrobe! The transition from the exotic, vibrant cities of Europe and South America to modest Winston-Salem isn’t easy, as many of us know. But collegiettes™ who spent the last four months overseas will tell you that they wouldn’t trade that semester for the world.
 
Ellie Baldini: Florence, Italy
 
Ciao, ciao, collegiettes™! Wow, it feels good to say that after being away from Italy and the Italian language for (gasp!) a whole month already. And while I’ll admit, I’m desperately missing the charming Tuscan landscape and to-die-for gnocchi, being back in the good ole’ USA, particularly Wake Forest, is feeling pretty good.
 
Of course, returning from a semester spent in the bellisima Firenze doesn’t come without its own set of adjustments. Not to state the obvious, but did you guys know the drinking age in Italy is 18? Not being able to walk to my favorite piccolo mercato for some choice vino bianco is, to put it lightly, the pits. And did I mention I’m missing the food? Oh, yeah, I did … not that I don’t love the daily struggle that is attempting to cook for myself … (who would have thought I’d miss the Pit?).
 

Kristen & I could not get enough of the pasta at this place…note the empty plates!
 
But enough with the nostalgia. I’m a silver-lining kind of girl, and so in reflecting on my re-adjustment period, I have a few thoughts: everyone knows a semester spent in Europe means amazing nightlife, culture you only dream about and a mini-hiatus from the almost-always sometimes stressful Wake Forest curriculum.
 
What everyone doesn’t know (unless you happen to be a returning junior, too) is the incredible insight you return with. I know it sounds cliché, but walking around campus these past couple of days, I can honestly say I feel noticeably more mature. I missed my friends from school so much that pointless drama seems … well … pointless. And that annoying 8 a.m. I would have complained about two semesters ago? This time around, I am just reveling in the fact that (for once!) my professor’s first language is English. Of course I am sorely missing the familiarity of Florence (crazy that I know a city an ocean away so well now!). But the familiarity of our beautiful southern campus is pretty fantastic, too. And what’s even better is running into the lovely friends I made in Florence all over the WFU campus! Talks of an abroad reunion get everyone excited, and reminiscing keeps the memories we made fresh in all of our minds.
 

As if any of us could forget a moment like this!
 
So, bottom line, collegiettes™? Once you’ve returned from something as truly spectacular as a semester abroad, rejoice in the re-discovery of the familiar and the knowledge that you’ve returned from an experience that has changed you for the better (at least I hope it has!). And that, my friends, is something you’ll never forget.