Cover photo left to right: Mariam Souweidane, Jena Groshek (Me) and Emily Fletcher. Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Study abroad is an experience unique to each individual you talk to. All of our stories cover a variety of situations, but the one thing we all have in common is that we are just full of stories. I spoke to my parents almost everyday during the last month or so I was there and I still have countless tales and travels to catch them up on.
This makes coming home a very surreal experience and transition. On one hand, it's almost like you never left--the only thing that is different is the season. Home and the places you experienced are so completely different from what you're used to that you can almost convince yourself that you just woke up from a semester-long break. It's strange, I'm not sure how to properly explain the feeling. I didn't usually see my extended family until Christmas as it was, but there was a silent understanding between them and myself that I had just gone through something life-changing and inexplicable.
As wonderful as it is to be home, I would be lying if I said I did not miss the sense of adventure that accompanied my every move while I was abroad. Thinking back to less than a month ago, almost all of my free time was dedicated to getting out and seeing my host country as much as possible. Once my travel companions and I covered most of those places, we decided to branch out to surrounding countries. In the last month and a half I was there, I went to four different countries. That's kind of expected when you're a study abroad, but in terms of any other normal circumstance that's pretty unfathomable. After being home for a couple weeks, I've found myself sitting around more because I don't have the drive and pressure of not wasting a single minute of your time there. I miss exploring a new city and its culture every weekend.
It's also a strange feeling knowing I might not ever see some of the friends I met there. You meet them in the beginning and they become a part of your family and home away from home. When you go to say goodbye, it's hard to let the caliber of the situation truly sink in so you can properly say goodbye to them. Their lives continue across the pond just like yours will at home, but you don't exist in theirs and they don't exist in yours. I haven't returned back to my home institution yet, so it will be the strangest of all when I talk to my friends from abroad while I'm with my college friends and taking classes. They'll all of a sudden be a virtual part of a life they never existed in before.
Study abroad was full of experiences I'll cherish forever and as much as I love being home with my family, my dogs, and my old friends, I will always miss the adventurous freedom in which I found myself.
