Studying abroad is one of the single most important things that will ever happen to you. You think you are content and happy, but like many young women, you feel empty. You feel lost, and you won’t admit it. You’re afraid if your life doesn’t meet the bar that people won’t look at you the same. I understand it's a cliché, finding yourself in another country, but there's a reason why it exists. To any woman who feels lost, go travel. Go study abroad. The world teaches you things you could never learn in a classroom.
1. You do not need a significant other to validate your existence
Stop trying to find yourself in someone else. It is an endless cycle of not feeling good enough, so you put up with treatment far less than you deserve. It is a spiraling process of losing yourself. I was the worst at this, and I still am struggling not to be sucked back into that mindset. Once you get out of the country, you understand there is far more to life than getting into a relationship. You will do incredible things. You will develop a thirst for life that becomes an addiction. You will discover the Lord working in your life and the lives of others. You will find such joy and purpose that you will stop thinking a relationship is the only way to make you happy.
2. Being alone doesn’t equal being lonely
When you are alone, truly alone, God is the one thing you have to rely on. Sometimes, that means being lost on the side of the mountain, not being able to communicate in the native language, or being lost in the middle of a Mexican city. Thankfully, “lost” is where God works the best. When you are alone, you find out who YOU are and what YOU want out of life. Not what your parents, friends, or church wants, but what YOU want. There are very few times in life when we are only listening to God’s voice.
3. Perspective
Unless you are physically dying or in danger, it is not a big deal. The problems you think you have now? Worrying about your cheating ex-boyfriend? Getting a parking ticket? Heck, struggling in a class? These are not life-ending problems. I have learned through missed airplanes, eight hour layovers, getting bed-bugs, losing my wallet, getting lost multiple times, and through other people that the world is so much bigger. Not only will you be able to look past barriers, you will be able to hurdle over them. You know God has a plan, and you will know how to adapt to what life throws your way.
4. To hate indifference
Joseph Stalin once said, “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” He killed more people than Adolf Hitler, but he had a point. Until you see it, it is very hard not to get caught up in indifference. When we hear about the Mexican or Syrian migrants, we are so detached from the situation, it is just a statistic to us. Between my travels, it is very hard to be around others who do not care. I have to sit and listen to people who want to build a wall on our border while in my mind I’m picturing the children on top of the train. I see the towns— people throwing bread at starving migrants partaking in the dangerous journey to America. I see the men, women, and children in long lines trying to get food and medicine at the Migrant Center in Guadalajara, because the Mexican government believes that they should be treated like humans. I see the 60-year-old window-washing man on my host family’s street who got deported four years ago. He doesn’t know anything about Mexico, because he hasn’t been there since he was seven. I see the people I met who had to flee their countries due to war. I see the signs that say, “Refugees welcome, tourists go home” in the crowded cities. I can’t be around ignorance, because that statistic became a tragedy to me. After you study abroad, you won't be able to either.
5. You are the change
In traveling, I saw the world is a broken mess. Syria has bombed 60 hospitals in three months. They have killed off almost every doctor in their country. Europe does not want any more refugees, so they are paying Turkey to accept more refugees than their country can handle. There is poverty, sickness, exploitation, and oppression. Sometimes, our country makes it worse. You learn you are not content with the way things are, because in spite of everything, you believe the world is a beautiful place. You develop a hope and a belief in yourself that other people don’t have. You are not the future. You are the present, and unless you learn about the world and speak out, no one else will.
