Being away from campus for a semester is amazing. If you have an opportunity to go abroad or study in another state, do it. That being said, there are things you're going to miss about school that I thought I'd prepare you for.
1. FOMO
Serious. Freaking. FOMO. All of your friends are back on campus living it up and you're stranded in a place that you presumably don't know. You're still in all of the old group chats so you get the "Food at X Dining Hall?" messages and the only thing you want to do is go but you can't because going would require you get on a plane.
2. Not Having a dining hall
If you, by some grace of God, have a dining hall abroad then you are truly blessed. Most of us aren't given that luxury. You never knew how expensive buying food for yourself at a grocery store or at a restaurant truly was until you went abroad. Forget trudging to your favorite spot on campus after a party to crash and stuff your face. If you want food, you need to pray there's a restaurant near you or you're going home to Ben and Jerry again (which isn't a bad thing).
3. Missing a sports season
When you go abroad, your football team becomes nationally ranked all of a sudden (go Cuse). Instead of having that experience cheering them on from the stands, you have to get creative and find the channel on your laptop or TV in order to watch the game. While you might have to dig through the depths of the internet to find that channel, you WILL find it.
4. Running into familiar faces
Walking around campus and randomly seeing people you know is one of the best parts of college, at least for me. You never know who you're going to see on your daily walks to and from class which gives some spontaneity to the day. When you're abroad, there's a 99.999% chance you will know nobody when you walk from Point A to Point B which is sort of sad on days when you needed a little pick-me-up.
5. You have to re-learn an entire 'campus'
When you're abroad, the new city becomes your campus...Except this one is about 60 times larger. Not knowing where you're going or where you are might be fun for some, but for me, the initial move caused a lot of stress. However, the most gratifying feeling is when you begin to recognize where you are and can get home without a GPS.
6. Making new friends
You suddenly don't have your core group of friends anymore when you go abroad. If you ended up traveling with them, then you're golden, but what if you know no one? You have to go through that weird process that you went through freshman year, meeting everyone and saying hello to everyone until you find a group that sticks. I got lucky with a great group of people, but others, not so much.
7. Not seeing school pride literally EVERYWHERE
Every other person back on campus is wearing a school shirt or sweatshirt of some kind. Those little things give you pride and the sense of a community that's larger than your major or your friend group. Out in the world abroad, you don't have that which, to me, is the saddest thing of all.
