One of the primary factors driving so many to study abroad is the chance to learn more about the world through experiencing it. Another outcome bound to follow that learning experience is the opportunity to understand more about yourself through all you encounter. For most, it’s a few months period that will push them outside of their comfort zone more than ever before.
As I grew into my teenage years, I certainly learned a lot about myself, but as I made my way through my first year of college, I came to realize even more.
That being said, living in a college environment where you’re constantly surrounded by others can make it difficult to find time to truly reflect on who you’re becoming. Sometimes there is no defined point at which you witness yourself growing; it can be as simple as experiencing a moment in which you know something within you has changed.
Despite all I’ve learned in the past few years, I’m confident that there is no experience which has taught me more about myself than studying abroad has.
It’s been nearly two months since I left home, and while I’ve adapted to the new community, friendships and life I’ve built here, it doesn’t change the fact that I came here alone. At the end of the day, I am still all that I have from home, and that solitude has allowed me time for self-reflection.
You’re given a chance to reinvent yourself when studying abroad. Personally, it’s been a learning process to both keep the pieces of myself I’ve always known and loved to truly be me at my core, while also exploring other parts of my personality that have remained untouched at home.
Having lived in the same area my whole life, this is what I was looking forward to most. To enjoy the anonymity of discovering new aspects of myself while having no obligations to anyone other than myself. While I have to admit that the freedom has been amazing, it has also reaffirmed to me exactly what features I appreciate within myself, as well as those that I aspire to embody.
As much as we all dream of starting a new life at one point or another, when I return to my normal life once more, I know more of what my needs versus wants are through these months away.
To truly be successful in the future, I believe I need to be close to people who truly fulfill me, like the friends who become family. I’ve also come to realize that as much as I love to travel, down-the-road I’m going to need a homebase to live my life out of between adventures. The hustle and bustle of a city certainly appeal to me in ways, but I’m beginning to grow more comfortable with the quiet nature of a smaller town.
Without a doubt, there are still a million more things for me to learn about myself. Self-realization is a process that occurs over the span of a lifetime – not a singular experience. That being said, the way I’ve been able to interact with a new part of the world through studying abroad has given me a sense of self that I’ll carry with me for life.
Paige Wilton can be reached at [email protected].