Studying abroad has always been on my college bucket list. I have never had the chance to travel outside of the country, but I’ve always wanted to. I loved imagining what it would be like to make it to the highest accessible point of the Eiffel tower, or what the Trevi Fountain’s water smelled like (was it different to other fountains?). I wanted to interact with people with completely different upbringings and perspectives of my own. And now my actual trip to do all these things and more is quickly approaching. In a little over two months I will be on my way to Florence and Greece, and I don’t know how to process it all.
The Preparation
The fact that I am leaving for 4 months so soon has not even sunk in yet. The planning has been the most stressful part of it all, taking my mind off of my impending departure. There has been passport buying, Visa getting and financial aid wrangling. The staff at school has been phenomenal, but stress is stress and it will find a way to creep up on you, no matter what.
I’ve done some of my research on Florence, which is where most of the program is taking place. I know the weather, the popular things to do and I have my Italy-guide book to help me fill in the gaps. I have visually stalked Crete, Santorini and Athens, all places that I will be traveling to in a field study, even getting advice from people who have been and lived there. But this all is too surreal.
Saying Goodbye?
I cannot grasp that I won’t be returning to my beloved Northwestern in the fall. I won’t go to a football game for more than a year and I won’t see a lot of friends for seven months. I won’t be writing constantly for various publications and I won’t be working at my part-time job. I will not have any exec meetings or family activities to keep up with. I will be free of certain responsibilities, but that’s not necessarily something I’ll enjoy.
I won’t be able to walk across the hall, or even down the block, to ask my best friends questions. I won’t be able to just spontaneously go to their rooms with problems or some funny Facebook post. I won’t be in the comfort of a town or university that I know and I definitely won’t be able to see my family on the weekends. I’ve been fortunate to live so close to home, and I hardly ever feel homesick. This will be the first time, ever, that I will be away from my family for more than a month.
I have not lived in a bubble, but I’m also not ignorant to the fact that I’ve lived in very few environments, a lot of them similar. I will be in literally foreign territory in someone else’s house in another country with a new language a cadence in the background.
Reflection
Before I leave, after this trip has sunken in (hopefully soon), I want to sincerely enjoy my friends and family. I plan on doing a lot with my siblings, like beach trips and movie nights. I will be seeing my best friends hopefully every other day, if not every day. I’ll be traveling to New York as well, doing a little bit of American sightseeing before I do the European bit. I want to be as immersed in my home life in Chicago before I go gallivanting off to a whole new world of responsibilities, people and places.
Before you head abroad, I would say to just take a deep breath, plan as much as you can but realize that not everything can be organized. A lot has to be left up to chance, and that’s okay! I love to have things planned out, but this new experience will be a great way to try and ease that pickiness and stubbornness to prepare and be way more impulsive.
This trip will be a highlight of my college career, but will hopefully help me grow as a person. I just hope that it hits me way before I head to security.