Ever since I was a junior in high school and first experienced a foreign country, I realized how desperately I wanted to study abroad when I went to college. I had a location in mind then, Paris, and, though that has changed, my desire to go abroad never has. Fast forward to now, and in about a month I’ll be leaving my home for five full months, the longest I’ll have ever been away. And as I get ready for this life-changing experience, I want to keep myself grounded. I don’t want to get swept away by the changing tides of another country.

So Dear Emily,

You might read this before you’ve left for the airport and you might read this on the plane and you might forget about this until something from home has reminded you to read it, but wherever you are, I want you to stop and to remember where you were when you wrote this.

You’ve done it. You’ve gone on the adventure of a lifetime, and though it was wonderful and I’m sure more than you expected, you’ve made it out on the other side. Welcome home. And before you get depressed and wish you could rewind things back to where they were before, before it was time to leave, I want you to remember all the years, all the time you spent growing in this place. Maybe you grew more in the shortest amount of time than you ever did in the rest of your life, but don’t forget that you have roots here too. You may have set yourself down in a new place and you may never want to come back, but don’t forget history. Sometimes history is the most important thing to remember. (And sometimes not).

I know you think the biggest challenge hasn’t yet started—getting re-acclimated and used to the fact that your study abroad trip is over, but don’t feel discouraged. Study abroad is meant to change you, to make you realize that it’s possible to set foot in another country and to turn yourself into a person who feels uncomfortable at the thought of the typically familiar. It’s meant to make you question everything, and everyone. It’s meant to rip you from what you’re used to and to make you different from the person you’ve ever been.

But it’s also meant to give you appreciation. It’s meant to teach you, to let you learn, yes, about a different culture, but also to teach you about yourself, about your own culture. It’s meant to give you appreciation, acceptance. It’s meant to make you a fuller person. Just because you want to change in one certain way doesn’t mean study abroad won’t take every crack you have and fill it; it doesn’t mean that even the things you thought you were sure about won’t change.

But most importantly, I want you to remember that this isn’t the end of the journey. Your life isn’t over because you’ve accomplished something you’ve been waiting for for so long. This has only been one chapter, and though the next one may not be in a glamorous foreign country does not mean that it won’t be just as great. I hope you remember that you don’t need to be somewhere foreign in order to feel your fullest. Sometimes home really can be where the heart is.