There are a lot of stereotypes about people who have studied abroad, and how they act after they return to the United States. After studying abroad, I tried to avoid acting like any of these stereotypes, especially when talking about what I did abroad with my friends who stayed here all summer. However, after being back in the US for five months, I still think about my time in Spain and wish that I could go back. I'm not ashamed to be the person who was strongly influenced by her time abroad.

Studying abroad was an experience that I will value forever. It was something that was a life goal of mine, and I can't believe how much the experience paralleled the experience I thought I would have. Why should I be ashamed to talk about it?

I know that I sound pretentious when I start stories with "when I was in Spain" but I also know that there are times where it's relevant to the story. I never tell my stories in order to make other people feel bad, I only want to be able to talk about what I experienced.

There is definitely a stereotype of people studying abroad, and not being able to stop talking about their study abroad and how much better the country they were in is. This stereotype was one that I knew I would prove true. I held back a lot of things that I wanted to talk about in order to prove that stereotype wrong. However, now that I'm back and still missing Spain, I don't care anymore.

If people are going to judge me for the fact that I studied abroad and want to talk about it, then they're going to judge me whether or not I talk about it. Every day, I want to be back in Spain. It's not something that I think in order to show everyone else how great my time was, it's something that I generally keep to myself.

Studying abroad is something that is super common in college, but telling everyone that they shouldn't talk about it makes it seem like something unique. So many college students have this cool experience that they feel that they can only share with people who also went abroad or ask them questions about it.

Being able to go back to Spain would be fantastic, and I still hope to someday. I had a wonderful experience while I was there, and no one can take that away from me. Toledo was my home for a few months. I was living there, eating there, and taking classes there. It wasn't much different from being at college. If I can call Columbus a home, then I can call Toledo a home.

One thing that will always stick with me from my study abroad is that one of my professors referred to us as Toledans. She didn't have to tell us that we were now a part of the population that lived in the city, but she did. She'll never know how much that meant, but it showed me that these people that we were interacting with every day didn't just view us as foreigners who came in an

I know that my experience is something that is so hard to explain, but also so important to me. I'm not upset that my study abroad is something that will forever define me as a person. It truly was a life-changing experience, and no one can tell me that I shouldn't talk about it. It's something that I wanted for as long as I can remember, and I'm going to share all of those wonderful memories to whoever will listen to me without shame.