You hear about the cliche “life-changing” experiences people have while studying abroad. I never thought I would be one of those people. Now, it’s about transferring the life altering experiences I had abroad into my everyday life back in America. The studying abroad experience is so normalized among college students, but sometimes we underestimate the privileges that studying abroad requires. To study abroad is one of the most amazing privileges I have had the chance to enjoy. I understand that not everyone has a positive study abroad experience. I hadn’t had the best college experience thus far, and was ready to experience something new.
Studying abroad was truly bigger than myself and everything I’ve ever known. If this article finds itself in the hands of someone who is considering studying abroad, then keep reading. A year ago today I was waiting for my visa to be returned to me so I would know for sure that I would be able to get on that plane. When I applied to study abroad, part of me felt like I would not be able to survive all the uncertainty. None of my Villanova friends were studying abroad. I would be missing out on a semester of dinners, tailgates, basketball games and other valued Villanova traditions. When you work towards something so far in advance, it’s hard to believe it’ll actually workout. My fear of missing out had to be cancelled out by the excitement of uncertainty. A year ago at this time, I was packing up my stuff from West Campus and waiting for my sister and dad to drive me home. I had to say goodbye to my roommates who I loved living with so much. Leaving something for a while makes you realize how much you value it. Studying abroad wasn’t just going to Italy, it was leaving everything I’ve ever known to try something new.
The act of leaving everything and moving to a foreign country for a few months was such a new and unknown concept for me. At the start of the new year, I found myself living with nine random girls from across the country in a little apartment in the center of Rome, Italy, some of whom would become my best friends. On weekends, I had the chance to travel to places my younger self would have only dreamed of. I got to try food from corners of Europe and learn the history of places I had learned about in school. I got to fulfill a childhood dream of sitting on a bus and singing songs from the Sound of Music in the Austrian Alps. I got to hike from one Italian village to another and do things I never imagined myself doing. Studying abroad wasn’t just traveling every weekend, it was getting to experience life from a different angle. It was getting to make new friends all over again, and learning a new language. It was adapting to a new society and a new place that valued different cultures and norms, and I thank God every day I had the chance to.
When I got back to America, I had a rough transition. After thinking about it, it wasn’t that I missed the pizza or the free time to explore. It was that I missed the thrill of newness. I missed the risk of doing new things with people I had just met. I missed doing new things I had never done under the excitement of being in a new country. I know not everyone gets the chance to study abroad, so I had to value the time I had. There is always more out there than you can see in your current experiences. Likewise, there is always the chance to start over and experience new things in life. There are always more worlds out there than your own, there’s a lot more to life than what the people around you think and put forward. At the end of the day, not everyone gets the chance to study abroad, and studying abroad is not the only way to experience life-changing perspectives. It’s about giving yourself the opportunity to experience something you never thought possible, and taking that risk regardless of who is standing next to you. Looking back at the difficulties I faced during my time at Villanova, they all led me to that moment when I chose to study abroad and experience something new. Studying abroad wasn’t just a semester of my life. It shaped the way I choose to live my life.
