Looking back at my trip, I am so glad I put such hard work in order to go because it was all worth it. I was fortunate enough to have a great group of students with me which truly made the experience. When I first got to Europe I was slightly overwhelmed and wanted some soft of stability and routine- which is hard to accomplish when you are traveling. After a week I felt acclimated and got over the fact that stability wasn’t going to be a part of traveling.
I feel so much more confident doing anything my on my own after studying abroad. I feel like I can travel anywhere by myself and figure out any challenges that would arise. I also feel more open minded about people and cultures. I really enjoyed watching other people speak and interact and it is not such a shock to me now when I see or interact with someone forgign. On a more practical level, I’ve learned about different foods and aesthetics that I want to bring back into my own life. Europe cultivates so much beauty and detail in their design that inspired me to change up my own taste.
I adjust very easily and quickly so when I returned home I felt like I never even left. The only element that was hard to readjust to was the time difference. The jet lag took me about a week to fully recover from, especially since the sun stays out longer in Europe than it does in the United States. It was nice to come home and every task wasn’t difficult or time consuming since there wasn’t a language barrier or cultural differences. I am forever grateful I had this experience and will never forget my summer in Europe.
