Before studying abroad, my experience exploring the world was very small. I had never been abroad before let alone traveled outside of Texas by myself. Through this experience, I was put in situations that were out of my comfort zone, such as trying to communicate with people who spoke another language or figuring out foreign transportation. There were a few times when the stress and difficulty that came with learning new things could’ve brought me down but by taking on a new perspective, I learned how to overcome the challenges with a smile on my face. The most important thing I learned about myself was what it took for me to make the most out of a challenging situation. When thinking of one example in particular, I’m brought back to the weekend my roommates and I stayed the night at Lake Garda. We were told that it would be easy for us to get around the town and that we wouldn’t have any trouble getting a taxi or an Uber. However, after arriving in the small town of Desenzano, we found out that reliable transportation was harder to get than we thought. At one point we even had to consider walking 2 hours to get to our hotel. The town was so small that even fewer people spoke English but because of our determination and positive attitude in not giving up, we were able to figure out the bus system in a town we weren’t familiar with. We truly made the most of the situation, getting to explore the town a little more than we normally would have and embracing cultural intelligence when it came to trying new foods. Shout out to Jaelyn, Olivia, Kara, and Allison for making such an unexpected sequence of events fun and memorable. They were the ones who taught me that perspective is everything and that it can change not only the outlook of a situation but the outcome.
