As summer approaches, people are already dreaming about the warm weather, the beach, and freedom from classes. But what if that beach was somewhere on the Mediterranean? Or maybe in the Gulf of Mexico?

You hear it pretty much relentlessly starting with your first semester of college.

"You should totally study abroad!"

And, while that's all well and good, there's a lot of reasons and reservations people ultimately decide to both not study abroad and to embark on the journey of a lifetime.

I studied abroad for a summer in Barcelona, Spain. It took me, like, three days to fall in love with the City. In my time abroad, I was challenged, learned SO much and realized how beautiful it is to meet people of other cultures/languages.

Here's 10 reasons YOU (yes, you) should study abroad.

1. It's FUN.

Studying abroad will be provide you with some of the most fun you've ever had. Think about the dancing the bachata under warm nights in Costa Rica. Or maybe walking the cobblestoned streets of London, England during Fashion Week. Or maybe jacuzzi-ing while nestled in the in Swiss Alps. Did you just get chills? That's good. Hold on to that.

2. It's affordable.

You will literally never get another opportunity to travel the world for as cheap as you will when you study abroad. Think about when you're out of school. You have rent, utilities, insurance, loan payments and Netflix bills you have to be concerned with. Not to mention you have to be "working" in order to pay these bills. In college, you have the wonderfully unique opportunity to take a couple months "off" from your normally scheduled program to travel, learn and experience new things. When you study abroad, you're essentially choosing to stay in school...just in a different location. Often, the price you'd pay to stay at your home university for any given semester is actually comparable to what you'd pay with a semester abroad. Think about it. You could potentially spend the same amount of money for classes at your home university as you could in Rome, Italy. Yes. This is real life.

3. You'll make international friends.

Me (bottom left) with friends from all over the world at a birthday dinner in Barcelona, Spain. Summer 2015

Not only did I spend time with my American friends (who participated in the same study abroad program as me) but I also branched out and made friends with people who actually live in Barcelona. I went to a Church there and made friends with people from Germany, Italy, Bolivia and, of course Spain. When I came back to Barcelona the following summer for an internship, I came back to a community of friends who treated me as one of their own. Take it from me, it's a huge blessing and incredibly rewarding to have friends from other countries and cultures. Not to mention, you end up learning a lot about your own culture as well.

4. You'll be tested.

The first two weeks of being abroad was probably the hardest time period of my life at that point in my life. I was taken out of everything I had known and was isolated from the people I loved. Think about that for a second. What if the culture, language and people you are so accustomed to was taken away from you? It's kinda scary, isn't it?

That's. Okay.

As human beings, we are designed to adapt, grow and change. We grow the most when we're the most vulnerable. I was super vulnerable those first two weeks. But now, looking back, I wouldn't trade that time for anything. I was forced to adapt and embrace the uncomfortable nature of the situation. I came out stronger and more independent than ever. When (not if) you study abroad, you'll probably experience something similar. I implore you to embrace it and encourage you to be strong. Once the first two weeks are up, you'll start to get a rhythm in your new environment and you'll be surprised how quickly your outlook becomes bright and sun-shiny again.

5. You'll become more culturally competent.

At Missouri State we are constantly asked to become more "culturally competent". Sometimes that comes in the form of being sensitive to people’s upbringings or heritage and sometimes it means accepting other people’s points of view. By studying abroad, you’re not just a “tourist”. You’re there for more than just a couple of days to see the sights and historical monuments. You’re there to learn. You're enrolled and engaged in classes that (hopefully) are classes you already need for your degree. However, learning comes in other forms as well. A large part of studying abroad takes place outside of the classroom: in the streets, at cafes, in people’s homes, etc…To learn about another country’s heritage, culture, language, and current issues is debatably more important than the business class you’re in twice a week.

6. You'll be more hirable.

Think about this from the perspective of a business. They’re down to two candidates. They both have the correct degree required and both have done their share of internships. The only difference is that you spent a semester in Germany where you studied physics (exactly what the company’s business is related to). Who do you think they're going to hire? YOU. This plays directly in to cultural competence. With the world more connected today than ever before, companies are more than often an international corporation and are often looking for employees who have global knowledge and experience. When I tell my future employers that not only do I speak, read, write and understand Spanish very well but that I also spent two summers in Barcelona, Spain, I will immediately be of a higher "hire-abilty" than my competition who did not study abroad.

7. You become a minor celebrity.

Some people may see this as shallow, but let’s face it. We’re Millennials and we love to get likes, comments and messages regarding our daily adventures. Sure, that donut from Hurts Donuts looks amazing on Instagram and that latté from Starbucks looks just elegant on Facebook but wouldn’t the cliffs of Ireland or the Great Pyramids in Egyptlook even better? From my own personal experience, many people from my home town have told me how much they “love” to follow the adventures I’ve taken. One of the cool things about social media is that for a split second, we are able to transport ourselves to another location and experience a fraction of what the poster has experienced. Whenever I see Adam Gallagher’s posts on Instagram, I always have a moment of “Aw! That’s so awesome. I wish I could be at______ too!”(seriously, if you don’t follow him, DO IT NOW.) These adventures that Adam has daily could be you over the course of a summer, semester or year. Don't do it for the "likes", comments and shares. Share these moments as memories with the people you love and are connected with back home. It's a great way for people to see you when you're away and it's a lot of fun to go back through all the pictures and posts from your time abroad once you get back. Sounds like a solid "#tbt" or a "#fbf" in the making, amirite?

8. You'll be forced to grow as a person.

As aforementioned above, vulnerability breeds growth. When put in a tough or different situation, we are forced to make choices that we may or may not have experienced before. Failure is inevitable but what matters is what you do with those failures. So you missed your train home one night in Madrid, Spain. Maybe from that you learn how to hail a cab or find the right bus to take you home. Or maybe you learn a new phrase in Spanish which allows you to get directions from a local. These life experiences, while in the moment seem frustrating or scary, are actually preparing you and shaping you as a person for the rest of your life. Next time you travel somewhere, for example, you’d have a point of reference on what to do if you don’t know how to get somewhere. When you are put in situation like these daily over the course of weeks and months, think about the lasting effect that would have on your life.

9. You learn something new every day.

Literally (not figuratively) you learn something new about yourself, the culture and/or the language every day. Maybe you’re in a city, like Barcelona, Spain where the people are bilingual (the country’s language and a regional language) and you learn how to say “Good morning” in the other language! In Barcelona, the people grow up speaking Spanish and Catalan (which is NOT another dialect of Spanish). When you get your café doble con leche in the morning and you greet the barista with a "bon dia!" (Catalan for "good morning"), you'd be surprised how far something as simple as that goes in the long run.

Let’s say you decide to go on an adventure by yourself one day. You just might find another level of independence that you didn’t realize you possessed. Maybe you step out of your comfort zone and go to that club the locals like to go to. Or maybe you try a new food you’ve never tried before and find out it’s our favorite thing ever! With the platform of being abroad, these learning experiences come daily with little to no effort.

10. You'll have a lifetime of stories.

You’re NEVER going to look back one day and think “Man….I really wish I didn’t spend a semester in France.” You’re going to look back and think “THANK THE LORD I spend a semester in France.” This life-changing experience doesn’t end once you hop on that plan back to the U S of A. With it, you’ll be bringing back a plethora of stories that you’ll find yourself recounting to friends and family to ad nauseum. You’ll relive the late nights on the beach with friends and the AMAZING food you had over and over again. You’ll find yourself saying “Oh! That reminds me. One time in (insert country/city of choice here) my friends and I (insert freakin awesome memory here)...” so often that your friends (who didn’t heed my advice and chose to not study abroad) will probably shut you up because of how much you bring it up. But, you won’t care. Why? Because you studied abroad and have been made a better person, have expanded your horizons and have seen the world in a brand new and exciting way.

So, what’s the moral of this story?

Study. Abroad.

If you’re not already privy to a certain country/city keep your options open. If you’re a music major, maybe spending the semester in Vienna, Austria would be a perfect fit! If, like me, you study Spanish (or any other foreign language), go to a country that speaks that language! You’ll be surprised what a couple months do for your linguistic abilities. If you have no clue where you’d go, give the globe a good spin and let chance help you out! Okay, maybe not that, but go to the Study Abroad office on campus and ask some good questions. Their job is to help you find a place to study.

I leave y’all with this.

Study Abroad. It’ll change your life for the better. I promise.

Cheers,

ZER