After returning from my fall semester abroad, people often asked me, “How was Argentina?!” so excitedly, but grew increasingly bored over the time I took to explain. This has gotten me so accustomed to embracing the answer, “I couldn’t even begin to tell you, it was amazing.” The truth is, how could I? After putting myself way outside of my comfort zone, returning to tell the story to the people I had left behind was an act that deemed itself impossible.

What’s it really like to go abroad?

Well…In one word? Incredible. In under 10? The best time you will ever get in college. If you don’t need to fit me in under word count, here’s a forewarning: you might cramp up from sitting down, listening to me talk for so long.

Here’s why you should consider including study abroad in your college experience.

You will get the opportunity to learn of the world through your eyes, instead of just in a classroom.

If you’re like me, a person who loves to learn about new cultures and customs (I am in the Social Sciences field, after all), then you will find yourself buzzing with all the new information your brain absorbs the moment you step off of the plane and into the country of your choice. Even if you prefer to be close to your friends and family, take a chance! The best part about studying abroad is that for everyone, it’s a complete risk to begin with, but you totally have the ability to control your attitude about it. You will find that everything you learn abroad will round you as a person, which certainly comes in handy when presenting yourself to future employers.

It’s not just for outgoing people.

Despite the counter-culture shock experience of returning, studying abroad has been the best decision I’ve made in my life thus far. All it takes is telling yourself you want to be spontaneous. You will make quick friends once you arrive and find these new people to be the center of your support system. Plus, we are so lucky to live in a day and age when your family is just a simple Skype call away! If you find it impossible to go a week without talking to your mom (trust me, I know the feeling), it is comforting to know that she’ll always be available to talk to you if something is bothering you.

You won’t need to depend on anyone else.

Ahhh, sweet independence! Even though we live in a country with many civil liberties, it's difficult to not to feel suffocated occasionally by the expectations of other people, jobs, school, future plans, the list goes on. When you study abroad, you’ll get a chance to slow down for a moment and appreciate your life one day at a time while still pursuing your goals. Plus, have you ever had to navigate in a foreign city? Once you have, you’ll realize the world actually is your oyster.

This could be one of the few times in your life you won’t be expected to be over-active in the labor force.

I don’t think enough people realize this, but real life is not supposed to begin in college! You may pay your own bills, drive your own car, live on your own, and be expected to work for everything that you have. We live in such a work-dominated society that it controls our lives, structures our years to come, and even how we view family planning. Vacations can only be fit in if they are around the clock.

Before I embarked for Argentina, I saved up a bit of money and left my waitressing job. Now, I am pretty aware that some people may not view this to be a smart decision. And hypothetically, it can seem like a complicated trade off when you have a steady income, but I think what made the decision easier for me was knowing everything that I was about to gain. There will always be more jobs out there for me. Money truly does come and go, but life passes you by pretty fast if you’re always chasing bills. After returning from abroad, you may even feel differently about your career plans and goals, in the best way possible.

You will meet some of the most fascinating people, and even some friends that will stick with you for life.

I got really lucky and clicked immediately with people in my program. Out of 60 people, I met one of my best friends in one of the first weeks I was abroad. Naturally, a group of over ten people formed around us and we were always doing fun things together. This was so refreshing, because back at school usually I’m never surrounded by so many jokes and laughter due to the hard working culture I was used to. Especially with work, I never even had the time to go out and do spontaneous things because my free time was already taken up.

After returning from South America’s mid-summer to the brutal New England weather, I asked myself why I even bothered coming back to begin with. I had embraced new aspects of myself, met so many new people, learned a new language from complete immersion, and was able to navigate a city for the first time on my own…all of this, coming from a life-long suburbanite and Connecticut native, finally gave me a feeling that I had made a significant mark in the world, and that there was only going up from there. I completely advocate giving it a try, because returning back home as the new person you are after time abroad is best thing you could possibly do for your young adult self.