This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in France. Over the course of 4 weeks, I grew way more than expected and learned how to be a worldly individual. Each day I woke up, I faced a new, unique challenge, such as navigating trains, strikes, new foods, language barriers, time management, and so so so much more. We had the opportunity to visit the European Commission and Parliament. It was truly eye-opening to see these 27 nations collaborate to create peace, unity, and a better future. Europe is a place where human rights are talked about constantly, focusing on the lives of people in more ways than one. A quality that I admire about the places I visited is that they prioritize a work-life balance and pay their employees accordingly, while also staying mindful of their opening hours and the number of holidays given. You could argue that more work = more money and say that is a good thing, but some people value quality time over money.
I was privileged to visit England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. Each country is incredibly unique in its culture, architecture, customs, etc. For example, I found it so easy to locate water fountains in Switzerland, but not in France; however, Switzerland charges an arm and a leg in a restaurant to serve tap water, while France is typically free. Super interesting!!
I’ve learned to let the bad roll off my shoulders because you definitely cannot control everything. It was so important to become a go-with-the-flow traveler because of the countless problems that arose each day. As soon as I learned you have to just roll with the punches and be ready to change your plans on a whim, I was a much more knowledgeable traveler.
My cultural intelligence grew 30x larger over these 4 weeks due to new experiences and broken stereotypes. Overall, I wouldn’t have changed a thing for the world. Thank you for listening!
