Last semester I studied abroad in Florence and it was seriously one of the most amazing experiences of my life so far! However, I was not always set on studying abroad and in the beginning, it was actually a lot harder than I expected.

I almost packed up my bags and booked a flight back to the states, but I am so glad I stayed. Studying abroad is one of those things that you definitely want to do for the full college experience. Put any fears aside and just do it... trust me, so:

To the student conflicted about studying abroad,

I was once in the same position as you. I wanted a break from my school, yet was super nervous about being so far away from my family and friends. I always wanted to travel but had never done so before.

I never really saw myself as the type of person that would be able to live in a place where I did not understand the language either.

On top of all this, my closest friends were not studying abroad, so I would be going into this alone. I would be starting completely fresh and have to find my group, something that I had not done in such a long time.

Studying abroad is sort of the same as when you are leaving home for your freshmen year of college. You are excited about all the new adventures that await, yet you have no idea what exactly you are getting yourself into.

You are afraid of being homesick and things not working out. You worry that your friends will forget about you. You worry that you will miss out on so much while you are away. These are all totally normal thoughts to have.

Like anything else, studying abroad will be an adjustment at first.

What you have to keep in mind though is that everything will work out in the end. A place that was once unknown, college, is now your home away from home and the same can be said about your study abroad town. Right now is the perfect time in your life to start a new adventure. You are young and have nothing stopping you.

It is easy to travel and even better it counts for class credit. The places that you have read about in textbooks and seen in movies are can now become your weekend destinations. The foods you will eat are truly amazing and the architecture you will see is spectacular.

I will never be able to get over my walks by the Duomo on the way to class.

Although there are times where you get homesick, a quick phone call can easily fix this! It may be difficult working around the time difference at first, but any person in your life who truly cares about you will do this.

Your phone calls are going to be so exciting too with all the memories you are making this semester.

As I am writing this letter to you, I can not stop thinking about my time abroad. I miss it so much and would literally do anything to go back to Florence right now. My time traveling around Europe was easily the best semester of college yet and I do not see anything ever coming close to that.

Yes, I was nervous at first and yes I called my mom way too often in the beginning. However, after the first month, all these fears go away. You start making friends and fall in love with your study abroad town.

You realize how silly all these things you worried about actually were and now worry about having to leave this all behind.

Let's meet in Florence, OK?