Almost seven months ago, I came home from undoubtably the greatest adventure of my life so far. I said my farewells to Cadbury chocolates and Scouse accents. I parted ways with the black taxi cabs, the seemingly endless rain, and the sounds of the Merseyrail train system. All of these things seem so small. Why do I find myself longing for rain and accents? For black taxis? Really?
As much as I want to tell myself that I'm being silly, I know that it's not the case. It's crazy the way you never appreciate something until it's no longer in your life. I loved study abroad while I was in the middle of it. I really enjoyed it as much as I could. But being back in the states now for nearly a year, I'm really feeling the full effect of what I did.
There are so many people in the U.S. who have never left the country, never even left their own state. They spend their whole lives in one place, just in their daily routine, from birth to death. And here I am, 22 years old, and I've been able to say that I walked under and around the Eiffel Tower. I've gone over the canal bridges in Amsterdam. I listened to Big Ben chime the change of the hour with my own ears. I watched the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin.
I've done all of these things and I am so young. How crazy is that? I never really thought about it when I was abroad, but I have thought about it over and over again ever since I've been home. When else in my life will there ever be a time where I can study and earn credits toward my undergraduate degree while simultaneously living and traveling throughout Europe?
It saddens me that I won't ever get an opportunity like that again, but it also brings me so much joy to know that I did it. When I'm older, I won't ever have to worry to myself that I never saw Paris or that I never went to Scotland. I took care of that before I had the full responsibilities of adulthood. I did it before a career, before marriage, before children.
A lot of my friends roll their eyes at me whenever I talk about study abroad, and I can understand why. It takes up a great chunk of the things I talk about. But I know they roll their eyes because they don't understand what it's like. I keep emphasizing it, but being able to study internationally truly was one of the most important things I've ever done. I would even argue that it's one of the most important things I'll ever do.
Being in England and Europe changed me. I grew tremendously as a person and gained so much more confidence in who I am. I'm more than okay with being alone. My sense of adventure was developed. I gained an important set of problem-solving skills. Out of all of these things, I'm not sure where else I could have learned them better.
When I'm 35 years old, I'll most likely continue to talk about my time abroad. And honestly, I don't have any qualms about that fact. It was quite special to me, and reminiscing about it makes me incredibly happy (and also sort of sad, but we can overlook that). England and the rest of Europe were good to me. I can't thank them enough for it.
