OPINION Here is Your Sign to Go Abroad

Regan McEnroe Staff Writer

College alone is an experience uniquely its own. Being out of the house and on your own for the first time, college requires certain levels of independence while still providing you with many home comforts.

Among these comforts are meal plans to ensure you are never without a warm meal, on campus housing which eliminates any sort of commute to or from campus and, of course, the fact that you still are within the confines of the United States, in an environment somewhat similar to wherever you grew up. Then, you go abroad.

This experience changes everything. Your sleep schedule, your eating habits, the people you are surrounded by and your general way of life are all subject to change. The question becomes, is this change for the better?

Going abroad last semester was easily the greatest decision of my life thus far. I loved absolutely everything about it and am a firm believer that almost any other student would as well.

Being in a new country, surrounded by new places and people is the ultimate form of discomfort. It pushes you completely out of your comfort zone and forces you to do the only thing you can: adapt.

Junior Angela Ferrigno recently returned from a semester in Urbino, Italy.

“I can safely say it changed who I am today,” she said. “I think it was an experience completely different from anything any college student can experience on a regular basis. It took me out of a place I felt comfortable, and it forced me to completely reinvent myself. You have no other option but to make it work because you can’t run away.”

An important aspect of going abroad is that there are no familiarities. There are no local chain restaurants or stores you recognize, generally speaking, and no family close by to go visit when you are homesick. It is only yourself and a new, exciting world right in front of you.

With this being true, I would never change my abroad experience for anything. I think I speak for all study abroad students when I say that my semester away taught me more about life than I could ever have been taught in a classroom and allowed me to grow as a person in ways that I never saw possible.

Junior Bella Irwin spent last semester in Amsterdam.

“Going abroad was one of the best decisions I have made in college,” Irwin said. I made the most memorable experiences and was able to go and see different places, people and things I will never forget. Exploring and learning in a new environment enabled me to grow and evolve as a student and person.”

One key takeaway that I had from this semester was that I gained a new perspective on what is really important in life.

That is, the only thing that matters is that you are happy. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, how big your house is, or how fancy your job is. All that matters is that you are able to make a life for yourself and enjoy it.

My experience abroad also taught me an appreciation for culture. The cultural habits of the United