I just got back from my own study abroad experience and it was definitely one of the most eye-opening experiences I’ve ever had. I never realized how much personal growth comes with studying abroad until I had the opportunity to go myself. Which I know sounds extremely cliche, but it’s true!
I spent about five months in Rome where I was completely submerged into Italian culture. It’s really eye-opening because I . gained a strong sense of what I want out of life. The people I met are absolutely incredible and the never ending stories I got to hear about where people are in their life never got old.
I wanted to write about some of the things I learned during my study abroad experience and wanted to share it. So here’s a list of reasons why you should study abroad:
I know it sounds completely cliche, but study abroad really truly is an eye opening experience. I had the opportunity to see how a different culture works and functions. Which then forced me to learn how to adjust to a different ways of life. Most people I know live in the same culture their whole life, so getting to live in a different culture is truly special.
Most of the privileges I had growing up I didn’t get to have abroad, whether it be having a car or even having cellular data. Without some of these things you learn how to be flexible. Whether it’s navigating with a physical map or having to ask for public transportation directions. It really opens your eyes to a different way of life.
I discovered that people are more similar than they are different. Now I’ve never had the opportunity to learn from a different culture since I’ve spent almost all my life in the USA. I study with some of the same people now as I studied with in grade school, so going to a country where I didn’t know anybody is something I hadn’t done since pre-k.
Not only did I meet people from all around the USA, but I also met people from all around the world. You realize that even though you may come from different countries, different backgrounds, different native languages, I was still able to share a special bond through the memories we were making.
I realized that people all over the world have similar senses of humor or similar tastes in food. I’ve met people who had difficulty speaking english and I still shared bonds with them. It’s absolutely crazy because even though english is a universal language, not everyone you meet will be able to fluently speak. Which was surprisingly one of the biggest shocks to me. It forced me to adjust the way I communicated whether it was with hand gestures or google translate!
I feel like all my life I’ve been told what to do. Leave for class in 10 minutes or you’ll be late. Go to your brothers game. Eat lunch so you don’t starve. Go to your freshman orientation to meet new friends.
For the first time in my life, I was completely independent in a country that was completely foreign to me. The first couple of weeks during my study abroad experience was definitely challenging. There was no one telling me what to do or where to go. I had to make my own decisions and go out of my way to explore new places around the city. I had to go out of my way to socialize with new people.
For the first time in my life I gained a different sense of independence where nobody told me what to do. During my time abroad I wasn’t forced to do things I didn’t want to do and I wasn’t forced to be friends with people I didn’t like. It’s an absolutely incredible feeling. Everything I did during my semester abroad was truly for myself. It was a new sense of independence that’s different than what I had previously known.
Being surrounded by a different culture, I had to learn how to adjust to a different way of life. For example, I didn’t realize how much having a car makes a difference. For the first time in my life I had to rely on public transportation to get to and from places. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but if you know what the Rome public transportation is like then you’ll understand where I’m coming from. For those that don’t, basically buses come when they want or they don’t come at all. And that is the honest truth. I have spent hours waiting for a single bus that never ended up showing up to having my personal space invaded on extremely packed public transportation.
Regardless of how awful the public transportation is in Rome, while I studied abroad I was completely submerged in a different way of life. I had to learn how to adjust to the way that locals live and learned how to appreciate the smallest things regardless of how awful thing got. I learned about different cultures and their values. My public transportation journeys taught me how to take my time and value the little things in life.
Now there’s not many students in the US (at least that I know of) that go on spontaneous weekend getaways with their friends. Something that I found myself doing almost every weekend was traveling, whether it was into a neighboring town of Rome or across the continent. Some of my favorite memories of my study abroad experience was my weekend travels where I got to discover new cities and meet people from different countries.
What’s really great about studying abroad in Europe is that flights can be EXTREMELY cheap. Some round trip tickets can go as cheap as $40!! So having that opportunity to be able to share new experiences in new countries with new friends is one of the greatest opportunities I had during my study abroad experience.
Everyone always asks what do you want to do with your life. Well I don’t completely know (most people don’t) and it’s totally okay. I’ve heard one too many stories of people quitting their jobs to travel. I met a walking tour guide that completely picked up and moved to Amsterdam from New Zealand because he found himself more happy sharing his history knowledge with other travelers instead of in a classroom. A 50-year-old woman told me a story about how she thought she wanted to go to med school, but after studying abroad became a flight stewardess instead. I met a guy who moved to Prague from California after college because it was cheap and is completely living his life to the fullest. It’s amazing how many different stories I heard that completely opened up my post grad ideas.
My study abroad experience made me realize that it’s totally ok to not know exactly what I wan to do with my life. Why? Because I have my whole life ahead of me to figure it out. Studying abroad, at least for me, gave me several more options after college depending on which pathway I want to take and I’m more than ecstatic that traveling is going to be a major part of that.
Studying abroad was one of the greatest experiences I’ve had to this day. It sounds completely cliche, but it’s true. I learned more about myself than I ever did in my life. I learned how to take things slow, be flexible with plans, and appreciate the smallest things.
I’ve learned that people all over the world are more similar than we think and that regardless of what our backgrounds, we’re all human beings that share this life together. It’s an absolutely beautiful concept.
These are some of the things I’ve learned during my study abroad experience that made my time completely worth while. I hope you enjoyed and I’ll see you guys in the next post.
Xoxo, Ang Around The Globe – Angelique
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