I never thought that I would be brave enough to travel half way across the world by myself. I get anxiety doing minuscule things alone such as going to the bathroom at the movie theater or going out to eat by myself, but after a while I realized that I couldn’t wait around any longer for someone to have the same dream as me. As scary as it was to do something entirely on my own, I needed to do this for me.
When you’re thrown into a whole new culture that speaks an entirely different language, has completely different customs and looks so much different from yourself, you can begin to learn things about yourself that you never thought possible and that’s exactly what happened to me.
I found I gained so much confidence in everything I do. Simple things like learning to read a map of a foreign city or tackling their metro system. I answered to no one while I was there and did whatever I wanted to do without having to compromise my interests for someone else’s. I went to eat by myself, I wandered the streets alone, and I got lost in each and every beautiful city I wound up in.
I wasn’t completely alone though, I opted to stay in youth hostels with multiple people that were most often from another country and male. While this option scared my mother because of the dangers it posed, I learned how to make friends with people only after minutes of knowing them as well as learning to trust the random people in the room that I found myself sleeping with. These random people have become some of my best friends and knowing that I have people across the world who I can call a friend makes all the difference.
If you are interested in studying abroad, I encourage you to check out the wonderful program we have on campus either at the Kearney International Center or at their website.