There are a lot of things you learn from studying abroad—no matter how short or long of a time you may be spending away from home. You'll learn about yourself and the world around you all at once, but sometimes, none of it is quite so noticeable until you're gone.
Maybe this is your first time really being far from home, and you go into it with anxiety about creating your own life in a new place. Or it's your first time living somewhere that doesn't speak English or doesn't share your cultural background. Maybe you start off unsure of how to be this new, scary kind of independent, where you're literally thousands of miles away from anything familiar, and it all seems like you could never figure it out.
Flash forward to the end of the semester or year or however long you're abroad, and you'll find yourself in a taxicab heading for the airport on the verge of tears because you're leaving this wonderful place that you've made into your home.
It always comes in an unexpected manner—realizing you're capable of something you've never done before. Most of the time, it comes after the fact, when you're on your way home, sitting on the plane or train or in the car, and you reflect on everything you did. You learned how to meet people in hostels and pubs, how to make friends on the fly. You figured out how to travel alone and with groups. You managed to pack and unpack, and somehow keep everything together over a series of months. You learned a whole city, maybe even in another language, and you lived in it all on your own. It's a feat most 20-somethings dream of, one that's not easy, but you took it on. As you go back to everything that's familiar and comfortable, it's easier to notice how much you've learned how to handle. From international travel to working out how to get across cities or nations, you aren't afraid of coming to roadblocks anymore.
It's those kinds of lessons that apply to the rest of your life. When you look back on this adventure, it will be a lot more than some great photos and good times—it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it was just a part of the rest of your adventure through life.
Whereas going abroad was once your whole plan, now that it's over and you're back to real life, it's just a part of what you envision for yourself. Maybe you loved every second but realized that home is where your heart is—or maybe you now know that your future is abroad. Either way, your point of view is forever changed, and isn't that what you set out for in the first place?
