Throughout my entire study abroad experience, I have learned not only about Italy, the culture, and the history, but I have learned so much about myself and what I would want out of life. My study abroad experience started out with me scared to death in the airport as I realized I was no longer around anyone or anything that I knew, around people I didn’t know, speaking a language I knew very little of. However, after (finally) learning how to use the weird keys of Europe, I walked up the stairs to see my excited new roommates scream in excitement to see me even though the only thing that they knew about me previously was my name.
We soon after started classes with some of the most amazing professors who made learning about history, global leadership, and business law enjoyable. And not only did they share their knowledge to help us on the course, but they shared stories from their own life that helped them to be where they are today. One thing in particular that stood out to me was how they said to be successful, you must be “comfortable with being uncomfortable”. My friends and I after hearing this implemented this into our everyday lives as we would walk to the corners of the city where English wasn’t spoken much, take trips that may have made us a little nervous going into, and asking each other “uncomfortable” questions that really allowed us to learn more about each other. This tiny little phrase helped all of us to step outside our comfort zone and helped me to realize that I was a lot more independent than I previously thought. This helped me to truly soak up all the fun and crazy experiences that I had with all my friends such as traveling all over Italy with people I didn’t know almost a week prior, going cliff jumping even though I am scared of heights, and traveling overnight to Croatia just because!
