A Basic Girl Reflects On Studying Abroad | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Travel

Yep, Another Post About An American Girl Reflecting On Her Time and Studies Abroad

Seriously, again?

409
Yep, Another Post About An American Girl Reflecting On Her Time and Studies Abroad
Alexa Campbell

In This Article:

I don't know exactly what I did to deserve it, but I recently became part of a highly misunderstood, marginalized, and dare I say, stigmatized community. Quite frankly, I think it's completely unfair.

What did my fellow basic globe-trotters and I do to deserve such judgment? It's not as if the majority of our parents had a large part in allowing our travels to happen. It's not as if my parents fully supported me financially after I blew through my waitressing savings as if my ATM card was invincible in the first month of being away.

Some people simply don't realize, gallivanting around Europe (or any other far-flung continent) is seriously strenuous work.

I felt especially misunderstood while I drank from my bottle—I mean "glass"—of French wine (sorry, Mom and Dad) under the Eiffel Tower, or while I ate Dutch pancakes on the canals of Amsterdam, or while I gazed wistfully over the city of Barcelona from Bunkers, or while I lounged in the thermal baths of Budapest. Don't even get me started on the pangs of judgement I felt while I enjoyed a pint of Guinness from my favorite Irish Pub in Ireland, or while I sipped tea at a fancy afternoon tearoom in London, or when I danced on the tables at Spring Fest in Munich with all of my friends. You get the picture.

Needless to say, spending a semester abroad was super hard work!

People who make assumptions and judgments tend to forget we went abroad to study. Perhaps one of my most stressful assignments involved lounging in the local park in Dublin and observing the difference in culture. My workload was tough to manage. True story! Yet the judge-y, not-travelled-abroad-to-study Twitter community often fails to recognize the genuine hardships that we studying-abroad students had to endure during our time away and continues to have loads of fun putting us down. Some of these judgmental people really made me feel personally victimized. See below:Me: wow this sandwich is great. Person who studied abroad in Europe 30 years ago: not as great as the one I had in Barthelona


Funny, Girl, and Monkey: Tori Harkin @tori _harkin Why this monkey look like every girl know studying abroad Get it gurl🙌🏻😍

Seriously, I did the same freakin' pose as the monkey. Partly because I was feeling the glamour of the moment, but mostly because I was in freakin' Spain for Christmas sakes! Sheesh.

It may have appeared effortless, but I personally worked very hard on posing for pictures in front of the most monumental landmarks of the countries where I visited, not to mention the incredible thoughtfulness I put into each and every one ofmy Instagram captions, too. I would greatly appreciate if the mean-spirited Twitter community would stop kicking a girl while she's already down. It was a tough few months.

Honestly, maybe poking fun at the life-changing experiences I had in Europe is rooted in my desire to troll the trolls who like to blather on Twitter.

Or maybe, just maybe, it's a coping mechanism to not avoid dealing with the fact that I am no longer like the super-glamorous monkey posing on an elevated surface in Barcelona. Maybe, just maybe, that's why my editor gave me a kick in the butt and told me to write an article about my overseas experiences, because my lack of submissions was due to the fact that I couldn't find the words to say about what I learned, saw, ate, drank and did in Europe.

Because in reality, I still haven't fully acknowledged the fact that I'm back. I haven't allowed myself to be sad about leaving. I haven't allowed myself to talk about the fact that for the first time in my life, I was cherishing every moment I had abroad, living in the present, knowing the inevitable expiration date and never wanting it to approach. And now that said expiration date has come and passed, I haven't allowed myself to reflect on my experiences. How every person I met, every place I visited and every little moment that I may never get back have fully changed my perspective on life, and completely changed me as a person.

And if I do decide to fully delve into that suppressed pool of emotion lurking deep in my subconscious, someone needs to run me to the nearest therapist.

I'll probably never transcend the stigmatized community of people who've travelled abroad and fully identified with every stereotype and misunderstanding meme that every Internet troll has thrust upon us. Maybe I will start too many sentences with, "When I was in Europe …" Maybe I'll be one of the brave ones who decides to move back to Europe after graduation (not that I've already started job hunting in London or anything.) In the final analysis, I wouldn't change a thing about my experiences abroad. Finding the perfect words to say anything beyond that is nearly impossible. So, if you get the chance to study abroad and join me and the monkey on the wall of cringe-worthy posed-poses on every elevated surface in every gorgeous monumental landmark in Europe (or anywhere else overseas), by all means, join us in this adverse-filled, misunderstood community. It's the best decision you'll ever make.
Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
student sleep
Huffington Post

I think the hardest thing about going away to college is figuring out how to become an adult. Leaving a household where your parents took care of literally everything (thanks, Mom!) and suddenly becoming your own boss is overwhelming. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of being a grown-up, but once in awhile I do something that really makes me feel like I'm #adulting. Twenty-somethings know what I'm talking about.

Keep Reading...Show less
school
blogspot

I went to a small high school, like 120-people-in-my-graduating-class small. It definitely had some good and some bad, and if you also went to a small high school, I’m sure you’ll relate to the things that I went through.

1. If something happens, everyone knows about it

Who hooked up with whom at the party? Yeah, heard about that an hour after it happened. You failed a test? Sorry, saw on Twitter last period. Facebook fight or, God forbid, real fight? It was on half the class’ Snapchat story half an hour ago. No matter what you do, someone will know about it.

Keep Reading...Show less
Chandler Bing

I'm assuming that we've all heard of the hit 90's TV series, Friends, right? Who hasn't? Admittedly, I had pretty low expectations when I first started binge watching the show on Netflix, but I quickly became addicted.

Without a doubt, Chandler Bing is the most relatable character, and there isn't an episode where I don't find myself thinking, Yup, Iam definitely the Chandler of my friend group.

Keep Reading...Show less
eye roll

Working with the public can be a job, in and of itself. Some people are just plain rude for no reason. But regardless of how your day is going, always having to be in the best of moods, or at least act like it... right?

1. When a customer wants to return a product, hands you the receipt, where is printed "ALL SALES ARE FINAL" in all caps.

2. Just because you might be having a bad day, and you're in a crappy mood, doesn't make it okay for you to yell at me or be rude to me. I'm a person with feelings, just like you.

3. People refusing to be put on hold when a customer is standing right in front of you. Oh, how I wish I could just hang up on you!

Keep Reading...Show less
blair waldorf
Hercampus.com

RBF, or resting b*tch face, is a serious condition that many people suffer from worldwide. Suffers are often bombarded with daily questions such as "Are you OK?" and "Why are you so mad?" If you have RBF, you've probably had numerous people tell you to "just smile!"

While this question trend can get annoying, there are a couple of pros to having RBF.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments