In the context of social media, there seems to be this continuous narrative— one in which for some reason, those who go abroad seem to speak down to those who choose to stay at their schools.
According to every article known to man concerning studying abroad (where I would usually provide a hyperlink, I will only suggest you google, 'elite daily abroad'), to study abroad is a life changing experience that everyone should have.
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I began to think about this after I paid a visit to several friends studying abroad in Europe over my spring break. I had just gotten back to Boston from London and called my mother, explaining to her that it would be best for me to board the next flight back to London so I could start a new life there because of the wonderful time I had. "See?" She responded. " I told you that to go abroad would've been a great experience!" After telling her I would get lonely in a foreign country without being able to call her at least twice a day, she shared the same happiness I did for not having left in the first place.
What made my trip fun were the people with whom I traveled. To leave school to attend a small program to spend four months in a country with people you may not get along with never sounded appealing to me, as I for one was never the best at making friends when I was growing up. For me to be told to leave my perfectly spectacular group of friends I made at college for a semester, to maybe get along with other people in a country in which I felt lonely was never going to be a part of my already perfectly painted picture which took three years to achieve.
That being said, I do indeed, love to travel. I think that traveling is necessary in order for people to better understand both the world around them, along with themselves. One might say that when you are out of your element, you tend to better understand yourself because you are out of your comfort zone. While this experience may be enlightening for some, for others, it may serve as a hinderance to potential social and personal growth, both which may be able to be achieved by simply staying at school another semester. For those, the option to travel is perhaps one that is reserved for a later time in his or her life.
I am a twenty year old rising senior in college. College for me, has been an experience that has so far changed my character completely and has aided me in becoming the person I have become today. Personally, I do not think this would have happened outside of my school's context. Never again, will I be able to roll out of bed and pick up one of my sorority sisters for an impromptu trip to Chick-Fil-A. Never again, will I be able to enjoy more than one more year's worth of Waltham's freezing winter months, when I look the most forward to staying in with friends. When I get homesick, I easily have the option to go home on a forty minute flight to eat one of mother's home cooked meals.
Such luxuries are not afforded upon one's going abroad for a semester. That being said, this piece is not meant to bash one's decisions to make the leap across the world, but to reassure to those who choose not to: you're not wrong in your decision.
