Studying abroad is an experience. It is 100% life-changing. I decided last year that I wanted to study abroad somewhere during this summer, and I never looked back. Studying abroad is my own personal goal that I had set for myself while I would be in college. I knew I would regret it if I didn't experience this. I am about to start my third week of my study abroad program, and I have many different emotions about my own experience so far.
When I first signed up for a study abroad program, I didn't really know any kind of information on it. All I knew is that college students do it all the time and LOVE it. I was so excited. I signed the papers and decided on the class I wanted to take and handed them in to the correct people. I found some people from my college that I knew were doing the same program, and I realized how lucky I was that I didn't have to go through this experience alone. (Thank God for these people because I don't know what I would have done without them through all of this.)
The last month before I left for my study abroad, I was preparing myself for packing and being on a plane for the first time, preparing myself for the cultural and time change that I was going to experience, and being an ocean away from my family and friends. I was terrified.
I had become worried about every little thing about the trip and my nerves were at an all-time high. I knew how nervous my parents were about this, and I didn't want to freak them out by showing how nervous and terrified I was. I was lucky because I got to talk to a lot of different people who had studied abroad in the past and they gave me many words of encouragement. I was going to be okay, but the nerves were definitely still there.
The big day came. I had packed everything that I knew I needed (and so much more that I still haven't worn). The drive to the airport began. I was sick to my stomach. There was no going back now, and I was so so scared. I could barely eat that day because I didn't know what I was about to get myself into. I wasn't sure about where I was living, what class I was taking or what the town I was going to live in was like.
The travel to Italy was long, especially because it was my first plane ride, I was a little tense the entire time. I slept about two hours. When I arrived in Italy, I couldn't believe it. I. ACTUALLY. DID. IT. I was here! I didn't know what I was getting myself into, but I was just proud of myself that I made it.
Something that your program tells you before you leave is that you will experience a cultural shock sometime in your trip abroad. They weren't lying. The shock comes to people at different times and at different doses. Jet lag was real and it took me a long time to get used to the fact that I had jumped forward seven hours. Italy is a lot different than the United States. The driving, sidewalks, street signs, and how they live. The cultural shock hit me hard the first two days. I would be lying if I said I still wasn't trying to figure this change out. Soon it will become a lifestyle, but by then it will be time for me to head back home.
The hardest part of studying abroad is easily the change that you go through when you move to the new country. I, personally, worry about the littlest of things while I am here and I miss the comfort of my own home. This experience makes you appreciate all of the things you have back home or makes you realize everything that you haven't seen.
My study abroad experience has been an emotional rollercoaster. I have been homesick that has brought me to tears, the happiest I have ever been with friends, growing up in a way that I hadn't before (backpacking through Rome, running through the Paris airport because we were about to miss our flight, finding our way around a foreign city that was our home for the next few weeks), it makes you appreciate the little things about your own life, but I am also seeing the most beautiful things I have ever seen (the buildings in this country are beautiful, it's amazing to me because these buildings are normal to people who grew up here, but we have seen anything like it before). Although I have gone through a huge change in the way that I live my life, I am so happy that I have gone through this experience. I am almost half way done, which blows my mind. I know this experience goes very fast (although some days I wish it would go faster). I know that I will be sad to leave this place and program.
I have a few weeks left with this experience. I have many more days of exploring and learning more about myself that I am so excited about. Studying abroad is a scary, nerve-wracking, and exciting experience. DO IT. If you are thinking about it, I encourage every one of you to. You will not regret it.
And don't worry if you are going through a huge cultural shock! It happens to everyone, push through it and you will soon realize how lucky you truly are to be given this opportunity!