After a long and thrilling semester that seemed all too brief, your Instagram countdown informs you that you have a few short days until your return to the USA. For me, this countdown was especially momentous — not only was I returning home from 12 weeks in England, I was graduating. Graduation. I still can’t believe it. If it feels like I just graduated high school yesterday, this study abroad experience seemed to go by in the blink of an eye.
It seems natural to be stuck emotionally. Yes, you want to return home to family, friends and whatever your next step is, but how can you leave the amazing place you called home for a semester? Does your extended international vacation really have to end? And, of course, we know that it must. Part of the wonder of studying abroad is that it’s fleeting. Even semester-long trips seem to fly by in what seems like days. Being finite is what makes you cherish your time abroad — taking advantage of any opportunity, saying “yes” to everything and probably spending more money than you intended.
What I find immensely helpful in battling the post-European blues is finding a sense of satisfaction. In a world that constantly pushes us to be more ambitious, to never settle and continually press on toward greatness, it can seem strangely inadequate to be satisfied. Allow your study abroad experience to be enough. You did it. You put yourself out there, did something amazingly adventurous, and now you’re back to tell the tale, to cherish those memories, apply your new worldly experience and have a number of awesome stories to tell your friends. Don’t linger on the idea that you could’ve done more, seen more or stayed longer. Let yourself be satisfied with all the new places you were able to see, and the very fact that you were lucky enough to be able to study abroad at all. If travel is something you know you can’t live without, then you will find the means to see more of the world in your future; so don’t hold your time abroad hostage to your wanderlust.
While it would be nice to traipse around in Europe, unfettered, unemployed forever, we know all things must end. No matter what you’re returning home to — more semesters at your home university, graduation, a job or even uncertainty — the next chapter of your life is waiting for you, so embrace it. End your time abroad happily, living it up with your international friends, knowing that the time you spent abroad will never be forgotten, but it’s simply one part of the story of your life, so don’t cling too tightly.
For me personally, study abroad has led to an interesting time in my life where things seemed to fall into place. All my life, I had been hurriedly waiting for the next phase of my life, never quite content and always a little worried.
After beginning my time abroad, I found myself in a strange mindset: I was perfectly happy and excited to be abroad, but I was also looking forward to my homecoming and everything that was ahead of me. I’m so thankful I decided to study abroad and so grateful to my parents for supporting me. With my arrival home comes my graduation, celebrating the holidays and wonderful reunions with my loved ones. Come January, I begin my career. Thank you, England, for making my last semester of college unforgettable. Thank you, UF, for taking me there. Thank you, Her Campus, for allowing me to spill my guts on this blog for the past two years.
Signing off my last Her Campus blog post, I leave you with the immortal words of James Joyce — words I carry with me through the end of study abroad, my graduation and beyond: “Welcome, O life! I go to encounter for the millionth time the reality of experience and to forge in the smithy of my soul the uncreated conscience of my race.”
Photo credit: www.theodysseyonline.com