One of my biggest worries before traveling abroad on my own was making friends. A month is a long time to be without any of your people and I wanted to make sure I would find people that were fun, kind, inclusive, and also willing to meet new people and try new things. That’s exactly what I found! When I was walking into my dorm on the first day, I met a girl in the lobby. We decided to walk to orientation together since we both knew nobody else at LSE. After going through orientation, we went to the library to set up our school accounts. There we met two other girls who looked just as confused as us. Since then, the four of us hung out every single day and did everything together. I was so worried about meeting people, but I didn’t realize how many other people were on the exact same page. All it took was saying hi to someone and planning to do something together to make some new and awesome friends. Everyday in class or every night out, I was able to meet new people, up until the last day that I was there. Most of the people I met were completely different from me, which made the experience even more unique. I made friends with people from Auburn, Bucknell, Wake Forest, Georgetown, Princeton, UC Santa Barbara, UVA, Cornell, and so many more schools from all over the US. Also, I made friends with people that were from Turkey, England, India, Italy, Mauritius, Hong Kong, France, Australia, and so many other countries. People can be so welcoming and kind if you just put yourself out there and say hello. I am so grateful for this experience and all the AMAZING friends I met from all over the world. I cannot recommend studying abroad enough, especially on your own. I wanted a whole new experience, and even though it was daunting at first, I don’t regret it for a second. And I can’t leave out the part that they are all coming to visit for the Iron Bowl.