Welcome week, sorority recruitment, college football, tailgates, Halloween, Thanksgiving - those are just a few of the things I'm missing out on while I'm doing a semester study abroad in the United Kingdom.

While it seems as if I would have FOMO (fear of missing out) over missing out on so many American/college traditions, it's actually the complete opposite.

I absolutely love the United Kingdom and I love everything I've experienced thus far. I've met the nicest people in the world - people who have welcomed me with open arms despite my accent and nationality, people who are diverse and inclusive and people I am going to miss when I leave the United Kingdom in December and return to the United States.

I'm not going to lie, I haven't had the picture-perfect college experience in the United States. It's far from "the best four years of your life" and more often than not, I'm counting down the days until graduation. Since arriving in the United Kingdom and adapting to the British culture and the British lifestyle, I've been happier than I've been in a very long time and I feel as if now, four years into my college experience, I am finally living "the best four years of your life."

There's no such thing as FOMO when you're studying abroad because you're experiencing things and meeting people you'd never meet otherwise. I visited Liverpool the other day, I'm traveling to London next weekend and I have trips lined up to Paris, Amsterdam and Poland. When in my life will I be able to experience these once in a lifetime experiences than now? College football will always be around, tailgates are a part of American culture and Halloween and Thanksgiving - well, you get the point. I miss my parents, pets and friends terribly, but I'm visiting places most people will sadly never see, trying goods most people have never even heard of and meeting the friendliest people I'll ever meet.

This isn't a "my life is better than yours" type of article, it's an "I'm happy to see everyone having so much fun in their Instagram photos and sometimes I miss home, but look at everything I'm experiencing" type of article. It's difficult if not impossible to have FOMO when I'm spending two and a half months in Europe, experiencing a different culture, eating the most delicious food and meeting the friendliest people.

It might seem like you're missing out on things when you leave home, but nothing compares to the thrill and adrenaline you'll feel when you visit a place that has been on your bucket list your entire life.