To be clear, I didn’t study abroad traditionally. I took a class at my university that had an international service learning component. Basically, I traveled across the world to volunteer for a couple of hours and spent the remaining nine days as a tourist. As unproductive as that sounds, I gained much insight as a student and person from interacting with new people and being exposed to a new culture.
As someone who has not left the country, I did not consider the importance of United States to the rest of the world. I think every single foreigner and local asked me about Donald Trump. While it made the cab rides more interesting, it said something about our country since people from Ireland knew more about our politics than I did. The strangest part was that there was an election in Ireland. They were preparing to vote for their country’s members of parliament, and I was laughing at jokes made about one of our candidate’s toupees.
In addition to becoming familiar with the United States’ position in the world, I also learned about the advantages we take for granted. While I was in Dublin, I co-facilitated an adult literacy workshop. Ireland is one of the most common countries to learn English, and my group and I were introduced to 20 amazing individuals from across the globe. While the class was fun and lighthearted, we learned that most of our students’ favorite part about Ireland was that it was safe. It broke my heart, but it also made me thankful for the life I had at home. A perspective like that makes you reflect on the world, your life and yourself.
I’ve always been an introvert. As a sophomore in college, I somehow found a way to work from home and limit most of my important conversations to the internet. I can’t decide if that’s impressive or sad, but it gives you a small idea of who I am as a person—okay, leaning more toward "sad" now. Travelling was always at the top of my to-do list, and I wasn’t about to let my weird personality keep me from enjoying myself in Ireland—especially after realizing how lucky I am to be able to experience this in the first place. One thing I learned from my trip was the importance of leaving your comfort zone.
The truth is that I’m the person who has two empty seats on either side in a full lecture hall due to her resting bitch face. But the worst part is that no one will ever know I’m a friendly person because I’m too painfully shy to let them know I am, in fact, capable of smiling. When I was in Ireland, I put that all behind me and decided to have fun. I don’t think I can stress enough how essential that was for me. I loved coming home and telling people that I only went to my hostel to sleep, or, my personal favorite, how I danced with gorgeous Belgian frat boys on my last night in the city. We had a nice conversation about politics—told you—and they followed me to the dance floor where I was spun and dipped to traditional Irish music, and it was some of the most fun I’ve ever had!
And the good news is, fellow introverts, that it’s not hard. I thought it might be difficult to fight my desire to stay in and watch Netflix all night, but being in a new, unfamiliar place with exciting people makes you want to go out. You read that right, want to. I returned from my trip happy and rejuvenated. This could certainly be attributed to checking something off my bucket list, but I also think that the 14 hour plane ride changed me—not the literal plane ride, because that was hell, but the metaphorical one.
So I’ll leave you with this, education is important. Listen to your parents when they tell you to stay in school, but please don’t let it detract from your study abroad experience because you’ll—ironically—miss out on countless life lessons.
Most importantly, don’t miss your chance with your own Belgian frat boys. You’ll regret it.
