At the age of 18, I left my home country to study in the USA. That was so far the craziest and scariest thing I´ve ever done in my life. While all my friends were getting ready to start college in Brazil, I was stressing out about SAT and Toefl. On top all the culture exchange I was about to face, I barely knew it English. After nights without sleeping, countless hours studying in a language that I didn´t know, on January 13th of 2013 I finally got to the place which became my home for the next four years.
I am a city girl. I was born and raised in the chaos of the big city. When you say that you are from Brazil, many will think that you live in the jungle and that you have a monkey as a pet. Even though I had a parrot as my pet, my city is considered the 11th largest city of the world, with a population of almost 12 million people. So I believe you will understand my shock when I moved to Arkadelphia, a little town in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas. I was a part of the OBU Women Tennis Team, and I can say that that was the family that God sent me, because He already knew all the problems and dramas I would have to go through in order to grow as a Christians, student, friend, sister, and daughter.
The experience of going to college can be stressful by the simple fact that you are going to college. This is a clear sign life is sending you that you are growing up, even against your will. But I have to confess that going to college in an another country takes this experience to a whole new level.
Living in another country is having to adjust to a whole new culture and as in my case, a totally different language, and sometimes this process is awful. It is having to meet new people from different parts of the world, that usually don´t share the same beliefs as you do, and still, having to accept them. It is having to miss everything and everyone you left behind, losing your safe place, and yet, having to keep a positive attitude, otherwise, you will fall apart. It is having to miss moments you always dreamt of with you loved ones. It is not being part of your siblings´ life, not seeing them growing up, not being able to take care and protect them. It is not having the daily presence of your parents. It not being part of the lives of those friends that were with you since forever.
Living in another country is having to reinvent yourself every day, without losing it, because if you, the damage will be tremendous. But it is also the opportunity to improve yourself, to become stronger, mentally and emotionally. The amount of experience you obtain away from home is immensurable. Whenever you step in that plane, everything changes. The perspectives change, the ideas change, the dreams change, the way you see life changes. Things become simpler (or maybe not). The value you give to moments and people change, and when you realize, you are no longer the same person you were one week before.
Studying in another country is facing a reality shock almost every single day. It is knowing that from miles away, people are counting on you and the bets are high. It might seem intimidating, and it can make a lot of people think “So why should I leave everything behind and live in this constant roller coaster?” And I will tell you why, because this is what makes this experience worthy more than anything else. It is the adrenaline, the sadness followed by a happiness that makes you wonder if you really deserved all these blessings. It is losing the graduation of your sister, but knowing that by doing what you are doing, you will be able to provide a better future for her. It is challenging yourself and seeing how far can you go. It is winning and inspiring people.
People tend just to take into consideration the professional growth when they think about studying abroad. “Oh, this will look great on my resume.” “Yeah, companies will want me, because I´m globalized, bilingual, trilingual”. Yes, all these points are fair enough, and I mainly took them into consideration when I chose to study abroad. However, the personal growth is the one that truly matters. In a society people pretend to be something that they are not, where they are constantly sabotaging themselves just in order to “fit in” in a world that they created in their own head, here goes my piece of advice for you today: study abroad, for one week, one month, or even four years. Get out of house, your comfort zone. Allow yourself to see the beauty of the world different from what you see daily on social medias. Life can be harsh sometimes, but she also knows when to treat us well. Reinvent yourself daily, because where would be the fun if we were all the same?
