Almost halfway through my time in Madrid, I am beginning to feel the pangs of fear and dread at the thought of leaving Spain and ending my semester of adventures in Europe. I hate myself for being cliché in only my second ever sentence for Her Campus, but I can safely say that the last two months have been the greatest of my life. I didn’t always hold such high expectations for my time abroad, though. In fact, several of my friends have accurately quoted me as saying, “We only get 8 semesters at Duke, why would I waste one of them abroad?” Thankfully I was talked out of this notion and convinced to consider a study abroad program.
However, I know I’m not the only one who has ever shared this sentiment, so to those of you who still have time to change your minds: IT IS NOT A WASTE. There is so much more to studying abroad than legally buying drinks in some insane club while eating questionable foreign food and posting a million edited pics in your cleverly titled “Eurotrip” Facebook album. True, it is highly likely that you will partake in the above activities during your time abroad (guilty!), but it is the experiences that cannot easily be displayed on social media sites that actually make studying abroad a life changing experience. So here is my attempt to take you below the surface, sway the non-believers, and defend the intellectual integrity of my study abroad experience.
1. You will learn things that no book or professor can ever teach you.
Many people believe that studying abroad is like taking an easy semester off from the stress of a rigorous academic semester at Duke. While I won’t dispute the fact that it’s possible to make an easier abroad schedule than your typical Duke semester, I will say that studying abroad is about learning things you could never learn in a classroom. You might get a kick out of studying history or reading foreign literature, but nothing in a book or picture can compare to visiting the site of a famous historical event and watching everything you’ve learned come to life or sitting in the favorite bar of your disturbed literary idol (If you’re ever in Madrid, check out Hemingway’s Cervecería Aleman!). You can also learn so much about a culture and a language from simply interacting with the people in seemingly frivolous conversations or social surroundings. I spoke with my bartender in Paris about the cultural reasons behind the French’s negative reputation for being the rudest of all Europeans. I listened as an Austrian boy I met at Oktoberfest told me the story of how he and his family caught the last bus out of Bosnia just as war was breaking out in 1992. I now have a very basic (emphasis on very and basic) understanding of French, German, and Italian when these languages sounded like complete gibberish to me only two months ago. Juicy bits of firsthand knowledge like these can only be obtained by sharing the experiences of others from worlds completely different than our own. It is incredible how easily you can learn about the world when you fully immerse yourself in a different culture and open up to the people around you.
2. You will experience the real world and become friends with people you would have never met otherwise.
We go to a school with a highly restrictive social scene. Nights out are dictated either by the limited number of bars or the frat parties that require you to know someone for an invitation. Because of this, it is often difficult to meet people outside of your social circle, allowing our affiliations with Greek organizations, SLGs, clubs, or whatever else to define who we know and what we can do for fun. How does this relate to studying abroad? Because none of it matters when you’re in a foreign country. Taking a break from Duke’s social scene will open your eyes to the world of possibilities that lie beyond what your letters, house, or circle of friends dictate. You will realize that Duke’s social system could not be further from reality and that it means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. I can promise you that there is so much more to do in life than hitting up Shooters twice a week. Studying abroad has also helped me go beyond my circle by bringing down the boundaries that exist at Duke and introducing me to some amazing people in my program that I never would have met otherwise. All in all, a trip abroad can bring your perception of social life back to reality and open you up to some new but worthwhile friendships.
3. You will become more self-reliant.
You think college made you independent?! Try being thrown into a foreign country filled with confusing social norms and quirky cultural differences. You find you were way overconfident in your understanding of the language and cannot for the life of you figure out why nobody here knows what peanut butter is. Not only are you on your own all over again, but now you must also learn to adapt to an entirely new way of living by yourself. Don’t know how to say your name in a way that Europeans can understand? Spend 5 minutes trying to explain it to them and figure out the proper accent. Have to take two different metro lines and a train to class everyday? Allow yourself at least an hour and a half to take the wrong line or go the opposite direction and get it right the next time. Want to travel to a different country every weekend? Review your budget weekly and try not to get too frustrated with Ryanair. It’s a combination of acquiring all these seemingly random skills and being okay with looking completely lost for the first month of your time abroad that help you grow into a more independent and self-reliant person. I promise both your street smarts and your confidence in yourself will increase 1000% in just one semester.
So there you have it: just a few of the major reasons for studying abroad that our Facebook profiles probably haven’t taught you. And remember, don’t judge someone studying abroad by their cover (photo).