Going abroad is a chance to form new, unique relationships while also testing the strength of those you left behind at home. The new friendships that I have made in this first part of my semester in Scotland have been somewhat unexpected, but in a delightful way. While abroad, you really have to make friends fast in order to find travel buddies, but the great thing is that everyone else is in the same boat. We’re all trying to maximize this crazy and blissful semester, knowing that it is bound to go by in the blink of an eye.
When fostering these new friendships, my best advice is to be bold and be yourself. I realized pretty quickly that I don’t have enough time to resist being weird and myself. So, before I left, I dyed my hair partially purple as I have been known to do—a symbol to myself to be myself, forcibly displaying my quirkiness on the outside so that my true personality could follow. I never had really thought about why I dye my hair this way, but upon arriving in this new environment with a completely blank slate, you can’t help but think of who you are and what type of people will soon be joining you for the adventure of a lifetime.
But in going abroad you’re also leaving friends and family with whom you have spent your entire life building relationships for adventures with people you have only known for a few weeks. So part two of abroad relationships is maintaining strong connections with those you love at home.
For me, abroad has been the best long distance I’ve experienced so far, for most of the relationships in my life. Instead of feeling the usual withdrawal from humans that I adore, I’m feeling more and more excited to be where my feet are, as well as to share moments with those I love the most. Although I’m very much taking in the world around me, I find myself planning all of the wonderful things that I will do with friends and family who I am lucky enough to share parts of this experience with. Working on finding a balance between being where I am and maintaining relationships from home has always been tough, but being abroad is providing me with an easy way to do both. Not only am I loving where I am, the people I’ve met, and what I’m doing, but I have exciting things to share with others, not just the same “went to class went to the gym blah blah blah.” I’m not saying that there’s anything wrong with routine, but there is something wrong with complacency, something I’ve found challenging in long-distance relationships. How do you continue having solid relationships with people you never see in person? Throughout the past few years, I think I’m starting to realize that it isn’t about the actual relationships: it comes down to your attitude about them. If you understand the type of relationships you’re looking for abroad, it will be easier to make them, and if you make the most of the moments with the people you left at home, it will be easier to keep them around.
What I’m trying to say is that, even as college students, we’ve been building different relationships our entire lives, both in-person and long distance, learning as much as we can about people even though we will never fully understand them. So whether you’re at home or abroad, keep up the good work, keep building relationships, don’t stress, and be yourself!