Before I even started college, I was set on not going abroad. Some of that decision had to do with not being able to afford it, much of it having to do with the fact that I have never really left the USA past a cruise back in 2014. As such, I never considered any of the programs offered my first year at Wooster, at least not until a bit into second semester. In retrospect, that was a bad idea, considering the section of Wooster that helps students go abroad also help with internships and jobs, so as a byproduct of not checking the place out, I ended up not taking advantage of any of the opportunities they might have had. But I digress, the point being, I never thought I would now be planning to go abroad about a year ago.
Much of the reasoning behind my softening on that position came about due to the fact that I thought I had to go because of my prospective major. Not entirely sure why I thought this, but it led to me caving in and telling myself I would go abroad at some point junior year. My reluctance to go eventually turned into ambivalence after seeing some of the juniors that came back on campus second semester. They seemed like they liked the experience, so I wasn’t exactly fearing the proposition of going abroad, but it seemed more of a formality, something I had to do, rather than something I actively wanted to do.
I think the moment that I became passionate about going abroad was when I had to choose my future courses for my double major. At that point, I figured out that a different major that was closely related to mine was the one that had to go abroad, so I potentially could decide to not go abroad and make planning my schedule a bit easier. But something I’ve learned about myself, is that I don’t like thinking that I can’t handle myself, especially in an academic sense. At that point, I had gone through so many mental loops to convince myself to go abroad, that I was fully prepared to go at some point my junior year. Eventually, I was able to carve a schedule out that would allow me to go abroad my first semester of junior year, and in doing so, I became incredibly excited to do such.
There are still plenty of scruples I have when it comes to going abroad. It’ll be hard to not see many of my friends for more than half a year, and for a few even longer than that. And the range of countries that speak purely English isn’t that large, and the ones that do are pretty boring. Going abroad to Aberdeen, UK from the US is like going to college in Wooster from Cleveland or DC or something. I mean, who does that? New Zealand and Australia sound fun, but the programs there, apart from 2 in total, really don’t work for me. And Ireland sounds alright, but I might not go just to spite some of my high school friends. Maybe I’ll check the ones that you have to learn a second language for… But anyway, the point is that I am now actively searching for a study abroad program, and for those of you who may be thinking about going abroad, I encourage you to at least look into it, because you should never turn away from any opportunity without looking to see what it may have for you.
