"Abroad changed me": the classic running joke that students tell everyone they encounter when they return from studying abroad. While this phrase makes for a funny Instagram caption, there is a reason why it is a cliche. After studying in Florence, Italy for a semester myself, I realized that there were valuable lessons I learned from studying abroad that go beyond the sarcastic answer of "finding myself." If this worldwide pandemic ever ends, these are some reasons why every student should jump at the chance to go abroad if they can. Abroad taught me...
- To roll with the punches.
Things happen in life. You make mistakes and life makes mistakes for you. Abroad reminded me to not freak out when things don't exactly go according to plan. Like when you take the wrong train to Rome on Thanksgiving and you end up in a rural town in Eastern Italy instead (this actually happened to me). Or when you end up having to walk a mile in the pouring rain in a small town off of Lake Como at 9:00 p.m and can't find the owner of your AirBnB to let you in (yep, this happened to me too). Or if you get hit by a bike while walking in Amsterdam (okay, this one didn't happen to me but it happened to my friend). While all of these events were annoying and frustrating in the moment, I laughed about each of them once they were over (especially the bike one, sorry Caitlin). Life just isn't as serious as we make it out to be and it's impossible to live a life impervious to mistakes. So, when things happen that don't go according to plan, take another train, go inside, get something to eat, and call your AirBnB owner. Get up and wipe the dust off and exhale, it will all be okay.
- The most important life skill: the ability to make friends.
I grew up in the same small town in Massachusetts for my entire life and believe it or not, made friends in the second grade that lasted me to graduation day and beyond. So, the first real time I needed to learn how to make friends again was freshman year of college. While we all get caught up in our circles and would rather not venture out to the scary world of meeting new people, we are going to have to do so throughout our lives. I went to Italy by myself. I chose to have random roommates and I had no idea who I would be spending the next four months with. Looking back I think that I must have been clinically insane to do so. Live in a different country without a semblance of a friend? Was I okay?! I remember getting on the plane at Logan Airport wondering what on Earth I had gotten myself into. When I got to Florence I had to put myself out there, I had to invite myself to dinners, I had to ask people I had classes with to go for a coffee. But guess what? It's not as scary as you think. By the end of abroad I had a group of eight girls that felt like lifetime friends. Since we got back we've celebrated birthdays, we've gone on weekend getaways, and we laugh about the trouble we got ourselves into. We all talk everyday and I would not have met them if I had not had not put myself out there by going abroad alone. It's okay to love your circle but it's even better to be open to expanding it.
- There is value in reaping the rewards of your hard work.
The summer before I flew to Italy for the semester, I waitressed at a restaurant on Cape Cod and I worked at least eight shifts a week. I hated this summer more than I had hated any other. I had always worked since I was able to, but working from 10 a.m to 11 p.m Thursday-Sunday left me zero time for a social life. I sulked all summer as my friends were ferrying over to Martha's Vineyard, going on boat rides, tanning on the beach and spending nights at Cape bars. I cried on Fourth of July watching the fireworks overhead while ringing an order up. However, when I got to Florence I had enough money in my wallet to live this once in a lifetime opportunity to the fullest. I didn't hesitate to go out to dinner any night. When the paragliding excursion in Switzerland was expensive I decided to do it anyway. All of the hard work I put into the summer became instantly worth it when I realized that this was my hard earned money and I was going to treat myself to anything and everything I wanted so that I would not look back on this experience and have a single regret. Because what they don't tell you when you go abroad is that the only things you'll regret are the things you didn't do, not the things you did.
While I'm sure there are many more reasons to study abroad and many more lessons I learned, I'm getting dangerously close to being the obnoxious person that comes back from abroad with an accent. So I'll leave you with this: abroad may not be in the cards for you right now, but if you ever get the chance to put yourself outside of your comfort zone and embrace the world outside your bubble that is waiting for you...do it.
