There's a reason why once you study abroad it's hard to ever stop talking about it. Study abroad is one of the most challenging, rewarding, and life-changing experiences you will ever have and it's hard to explain why. Everyone's study abroad experience is different and changes them in different ways, but it's easy to bond with someone who has also studied abroad. You just seem to get each other. You've been through the same thing even if how you lived it was different. Study abroad taught me a lot about myself, my friends, my culture, and my life; how I saw it and how I wanted it to be. After study abroad I found that my outlooks had changed and the things I valued also began to change. Even if only for a semester, study abroad is a monumental time in any college student's life and it taught me more lessons than a classroom ever could. These are the lessons that my study abroad in Valladolid, Spain taught me:
Not everyone is meant to be in your life forever. Time was one of the most important aspects of study abroad. 6 months, that's all I had and I had to make the most of it but at times that involved making and breaking bonds within days. While abroad I met incredible people from all over the world. I made friends from Korea, Spain, Germany, Brazil, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and many more. Some of these people I made lifelong memories with in merely moments. I made friends everywhere. Hostels, bars, restaurants. I even have a business card of a woman I met in Paris at a cafe who was from Mexico. It only takes one moment to form a bond but not every bond is meant to last forever, and that's okay. Some of the friends I made are lifelong friends, and others I may never see again but their impact is still there. It's the moment when you scroll through Instagram and say "I met him in a hostel in Berlin, his photography is incredible." Study abroad was one of the few times in my life where I made friends every single day and even if those friendships only lasted a week, two or three, they were still important.
That lesson taught me even more about my friends at home, a lesson I learned hard and fast when I realized that you will lose friends after study abroad. When abroad, I was under the false impression that time had frozen but when I came back everything had changed. My friends had new friends, some formed stronger bonds to others in my absence and some disappeared completely. It's hard. You come back and there's inside jokes you don't get, parties you're not invited to, and changes you may never become a part of and you have to just move on. Not everyone is meant to be in your life forever, study abroad showed me who stuck around.
Still, despite all of the new friends, study abroad truly teaches you how to be alone. I was alone through it all. I was in a different time zone with no friends, no family, and no mobile data on my smartphone. It was up to me to make bonds which included new friends in my study abroad program and a host family. I had to rely on WiFi and mobile apps like WhatsApp, Line App, GroupMe, and Facebook just to talk to anyone and at a limited time due to the time difference. I had to learn how to plan on my own, navigate on my own, and avoid dangerous situations on my own. Study abroad forces you to learn street smarts because as hard as you try something will go wrong. You will miss your flight, you will get scammed, and if you're me, you will get lost in Florence at 1am with no map and a hostel booked in the wrong city. You'll figure it out though. It is up to you to be safe, alert, and know your way home. At home, I never even bothered much with directions because Google Maps was only a fingertip away, but when abroad I learned quickly. You never know what's going to happen and it's important to learn how to ask for help, because you're going to need it.
Some of the lessons I learned were simple, like to never disregard or undervalue the beauty of a city you've never heard of. Not everywhere you visit is going to be Paris or Rome but that doesn't mean it isn't worth it. I visited so many cities in Spain. Some of the cities were big, well known, and popular, like Madrid, Barcelona, and Sevilla but others weren't like Soria, Avila, and my very own city, Valladolid. However, each had a history and beauty that I would've never discovered had I disregarded it. The advice of locals and a train ride can result in the most beautiful experiences. It's only because of my host mom that I ever visited Burgos, Spain. She told me that Burgos had the most beautiful cathedral she had ever seen next to the cathedral in Milan. So, with a couple of friends, a train ride, and no map, I explored Burgos, a city I had never heard of, and discovered that it was stunning and did indeed have one of the most beautiful cathedrals I have ever seen, even more so than some of the most famous cathedrals of the world, Notre Dame included (and it's a close one between Burgos and Milan).
But the most important thing study abroad taught me was about happiness. Study abroad, without a doubt, was the happiest time in my life. It was the first time, and maybe the only time, that I was stress-free, worry-free, and relaxed. I was given time to be with my friends, explore, and learn outside the classroom. It was a time where I would spend hours everyday with my friends drinking coffee, grabbing tapas, or just being together. I was taking 18 credits of work but excelling because learning was valued more than tests and experiences were given as much weight as textbooks. It was hard to come back to realize that you're friends will skip lunch dates to do homework and skip lifelong memories and experiences to study. When I came back I realized how much people valued things that didn't matter and I learned that just because study abroad is over doesn't mean the experience leaves you.
You'll never stop talking about study abroad because it's important. Study abroad was an important time in my life where in my happiest moments all I needed was a map, a backpack, a sandwich and enough money for a cup of coffee. I made friends and memories to last a lifetime and was able to experience and see things that some don't see in their entire lifetimes. I watched the Eiffel Tower sparkle at midnight, I walked through and around the Coliseum where gladiators were once slaughtered, I saw flamenco in Andalusia where flamenco was born, I walked through a concentration camp and saw where so many people lost their lives, I walked the beaches of Normandy where our soldiers fought, walked down the famous Las Ramblas, and even saw Lionel Messi, world's greatest soccer player, play for FC Barcelona in the flesh. It's an experience I'll never forget and its lessons follow me day to day. Thank you study abroad, for giving me the world.
