When I had initially applied to colleges during my senior year of high school, the last thing on my mind was a study abroad program. My main college choices had them, but it wasn’t my deciding factor. When I finally picked, I soon learned that my school required all students to do some sort of study abroad excursion, whether it be for a few weeks, or for a semester.
That’s how I ended up in London during the first semester of my junior year. I never really saw myself studying in London. I grew up in New Jersey and had spent plenty of time in New York City, which I could only handle in short bursts. But there was something about London that ended up capturing my heart. I would easily go back in a heartbeat. Now, I think the best opportunity that my university ever gave to me was the ability to study abroad.
Yes, I understand that I didn’t need to know a different language to navigate London, but that doesn’t mean that its culture didn’t differ from the one I grew up in and found myself in before I left. I had never lived in a city, never had the ability to travel from one place to another easily, and had never had my university courses in museums where the professor encouraged us to sit and sketch the grumpy faces from British history.
I also had never been so far away from my family. I will be honest when I say that I wasn’t one of those kids who had a really hard time being away from my parents. I surely missed them when Thanksgiving rolled around, and when I was experiencing really cool things in Ireland and Germany, but they prepared me to survive on my own.
Studying abroad gave me a whole new sense of independence that I had never experienced before. If I needed anything, I was on my own. If I wanted to get somewhere, it was up to me to get myself there. When I got sick during my first month of being abroad, my friends were there to help, instead of my parents.
I learned a lot about myself, became inspired, traveled to places I’ve never been, and I met new people, some of whom I’ve seen since being back in America. Ironically, a girl who took Black & White Photography with me while I studied in London works at the university that my sister just began attending. It’s a small world.
To you, younger university students, I encourage you to check out what opportunities your school offers to students in order to study abroad. While many people I went to school with might have different opinions on what they love most about our university, the majority will tell you how glad that they were to be able to study abroad. It might just be the best thing you ever do for yourself.
