"I was outside of my comfort zone, which is kind of the whole point, but I did not like that and will list reasons as to why that's not my fault, even though it is."
I did not study abroad for a few ridiculous reasons (I was in a long-term relationship, and I wanted to graduate early, which I did), and I wish I had taken a year, broken up with the partner since our relationship didn't survive anyway, and studied abroad. It all worked out in the end—I'm a journalist and one of my beats is travel, so I've more than made up for it. But still, it's an experience I can't really mimic in my life now. Funny enough, I wrote in my newsletter a little about this person's study abroad article, and my summary was: I am deeply grateful that when I was a college student, I didn’t have a clickbait website as a platform for my unedited thoughts.
Also, thank you for sharing Gabrielle Zevin's article. As someone who lost an aging pet a little over a year ago, it was quite sweet to read.
I studied abroad in Ireland, and was there when the Iraq war began. I remember my university emailing us and recommending we tell people we were Canadian.
I loved my semester abroad. It was lonely sometimes, but overall a great experience. It helped that I didn't have to learn a new language (though I regret that now!) and also that the Irish are incredibly friendly. I'd love to go back, now that I'm older/wiser/can handle my Guinness better.
I did not study abroad because, while I had some friends who went abroad junior year, I had more who didn't and I just didn't want to miss out on what was going on back at school. I'm not really sure if I regret it or not. A lot of people I know loved their time abroad, but one of my good friends, who speaks French and is a huge Francophile, started a semester in Paris but was so miserable she came home mid-semester. Maybe I should have done a summer program or something? I love traveling now, but when I was in college I really wasn't interested in traveling. I have still not done a lot of foreign travel and at the moment I absolutely can't afford it. There are a lot of places I want to see, particularly in Europe, and it's a bummer to realize I can never have the experience of traveling as a young person.
"I was outside of my comfort zone, which is kind of the whole point, but I did not like that and will list reasons as to why that's not my fault, even though it is."
I did not study abroad for a few ridiculous reasons (I was in a long-term relationship, and I wanted to graduate early, which I did), and I wish I had taken a year, broken up with the partner since our relationship didn't survive anyway, and studied abroad. It all worked out in the end—I'm a journalist and one of my beats is travel, so I've more than made up for it. But still, it's an experience I can't really mimic in my life now. Funny enough, I wrote in my newsletter a little about this person's study abroad article, and my summary was: I am deeply grateful that when I was a college student, I didn’t have a clickbait website as a platform for my unedited thoughts.
Also, thank you for sharing Gabrielle Zevin's article. As someone who lost an aging pet a little over a year ago, it was quite sweet to read.
I studied abroad in Ireland, and was there when the Iraq war began. I remember my university emailing us and recommending we tell people we were Canadian.
I loved my semester abroad. It was lonely sometimes, but overall a great experience. It helped that I didn't have to learn a new language (though I regret that now!) and also that the Irish are incredibly friendly. I'd love to go back, now that I'm older/wiser/can handle my Guinness better.
I did not study abroad because, while I had some friends who went abroad junior year, I had more who didn't and I just didn't want to miss out on what was going on back at school. I'm not really sure if I regret it or not. A lot of people I know loved their time abroad, but one of my good friends, who speaks French and is a huge Francophile, started a semester in Paris but was so miserable she came home mid-semester. Maybe I should have done a summer program or something? I love traveling now, but when I was in college I really wasn't interested in traveling. I have still not done a lot of foreign travel and at the moment I absolutely can't afford it. There are a lot of places I want to see, particularly in Europe, and it's a bummer to realize I can never have the experience of traveling as a young person.