During my senior year of high school, I was surrounded by my friends eagerly submitting their college applications. I was also applying to schools, but I was missing that sense of excitement hyping my friends up all day. So, after hearing back from the schools I’d applied to and having an intense brainstorming session with my parents, I reached a decision: I was going to take a gap year. After several weeks of intense planning, I began to prepare for my departure to Europe. The six months I spent living abroad turned out to be some of the most momentous times I’ve experienced so far (and probably will, ever.) For anyone thinking of making the same choice I did, here are three major things I learned while living abroad:
1. Pay attention to your surroundings.
Let’s be real: pulling out your phone when alone on a bus or in a cafe is habitual. But, without phone service and only a map to guide me through the bustling streets of the unfamiliar city of Turin, Italy, I was forced to fully appreciate everything surrounding me. The lingering smells of pizza. The intricate carvings on cathedrals. The sexy stroll of the young Italian man. Learning how to be aware and in the moment allowed me to notice the beauty in trivial things and absorb all of the culture around me.
2. Appreciate company more than ever.
Being alone helped in activating my awareness, but once I did meet people, I realized how much I cherished the time I spent with them; I also realized that after spending so much time alone, I wanted to surround myself with people I truly enjoyed being around, like beautiful Italian men. I made some of the best friendships abroad (with no fine foreign men, though), and I am certain these relationships will last forever. I met people who were also feeling alone, and together we exchanged our experiences and cultural differences.
3. Learn about other cultures.
While abroad, I learned how vital asking questions and being curious about other cultures is to understanding and appreciating a foreign country. One fall afternoon, I made my way to the center of Turin and awkwardly stood by a magazine stand – the meeting place a Finnish girl and I chose earlier that day. Once she approached me and we spent the day together, we both knew that day was only the beginning of our lifelong friendship. I learned so much from our endless conversations, and because of her, I realized that I wanted to learn more about the many places I knew little to nothing about.
Being alone can be scary. On my first day after arriving to Italy, an old woman stole money from me – all I was trying to do was buy dandruff shampoo. My Italian vocabulary was extremely limited, so I stood there, dandruff shampoo in hand, watching the thief hobble away. But after learning how to observe my new environment, meet new people, and immerse myself into an unfamiliar culture, I’m able to confidently say that taking a gap year was the best decision I’ve made in my life so far.