This post has been long overdue. I’ve had a sticky note with a rough draft of the key points written out for about four months and have been home for three and a half. So like I said, long overdue.

Plus, I wasn’t sure if people were still interested in my study abroad experience since it ended months ago, but a quick Twitter poll convinced me otherwise. Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter to have a say in future posts!

So as the title of this suggests, I’m going to be talking about what I learned while studying abroad. And honestly, it’s more general than that, and all that I’m going to talk about could easily be applied to any trip abroad I’d think. So whether you’re going to be living in another country for a week or for four months, reading this post might help you prepare for the mindset you’re going to be in while there, when you’re back and what to expect in general.

Since I have had a lot of time to think about what’s going to go into this post, it’s going to be long. And maybe a little emotional. You’ll just have to keep reading to find out.

Going to Europe, going outside the country for the first time, or studying abroad, whichever you want to say caused it, changed me and made me want to make some changes to my life when I returned to the states. Some of these changes were good and affected me positively, while others made my mental health take a dive either while abroad or when I came back. Other things I learned didn’t want me to make changes to my life, they just shifted my outlook and view on life.

We really are the same

Everyone obviously has different traits and personalities and ways of doing things and accents and ways of life and appearances, but as cheesy as it sounds, we really are just human.

Having never been out of the country before, anytime I would meet a foreigner or study abroad student, I was always fascinated by them. And I remember my classmates being the same in high school – always fawning over the new kids from Europe, Asia, Australia or where ever they were from. Read more…