The first year of university is typically notorious for frosh week, moving into residence and finding your way around campus. Well, for me it was a little different. I decided to do my first year of university abroad. True, it’s a strange concept, especially for the first year, but I was determined; I was extremely excited to finish high school and start a new adventure.
I know you’ve heard probably this sentiment many times before, but my case differs from the norm because I actually really liked high school. Albeit safe and familiar environment, I wanted to be tossed out of my comfort zone. What better way to do that than by moving to England for eight months?
People told me I was brave to make such a decision, so I believed I was fit to tackle a year in England and who knows where else on my own.
You may ask, “Why would I want to disrupt my coziness?” To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t give you an exact answer but I think the expression “too much of a good thing” applies here. The security I felt over the course of my high school career prepared me for a new adventure.
The year turned out to be nothing like what I expected, because frankly I didn’t know what to think. At the beginning of my time abroad, I expected to find it challenging to adjust to life somewhere other than beneath my parents’ roof. I assumed friendships wouldn’t happen overnight and that my new teachers — nevermind professors — would take some getting used to. While all of these things proved to be true, and felt like an overbearing burden at first, they were much easier to handle than I foresaw.
For example, I met a friend in my orientation group early on, we clicked and she introduced me to some other girls that night. Today they are still some of my absolute best friends.
However, don’t think I was Ms. Charisma immediately upon arrival, I was incredibly homesick for the first week or so and spoke to my parents and siblings at least twice a day. The hardest thing by far was trying not to let the homesickness consume me.
Luckily, I managed to get by with the help of some initially fabricated confidence. I’m a firm believer in the motto “fake it ‘til you make it,” after all and it worked for me.
Before my arrival, I probably couldn’t have outlined these original expectations as I’ve done here, I was more generally anxious for such an unfamiliar experience. However, if it wasn’t for my initial fear of being a yearlong outsider, I wouldn’t have put myself out there in the first few days of orientation, I wouldn’t have gone to the various social events and I wouldn’t have made friends so quickly.
And these lifelong friends weren’t all I gained from my year in England. Now that I’ve allowed myself to explore some of the inner anxieties I had before and during my time abroad, it’s time to switch gears from what happened going into this year to what I got out of it.
Let’s start with geography. By the time I left in May, I visited 15 European countries. Although I joke about being well travelled, it`s something I’m seriously grateful for.
It’s often said that young adults travel to “find themselves,” but what does that even mean? We’re continuously growing emotionally and intellectually, so how can we ever be “found”? Although I didn`t “find myself”, I undoubtedly grew tremendously as an individual this year. Travelling without my parents and without any form of supervision noticeably improved my self-confidence.
After going around the UK, I came to a newfound conclusion that I can take care of myself; I wasn’t going to die alone on a street in a foreign land. I learned to be more self-aware, patient and generally more comfortable in my own skin. Ironically, along with this newfound confidence and feeling of maturity came humbleness and a sense of immaturity.
Although I thought I’d feel like a grown-up because I was travelling with friends the reality was my friends and I were actually the youngest in every hostel and bar we went into. We got used to being the babies, especially in British pubs where the customer age ranged from 18 to roughly 75.
I often did feel strong ,independent and adult-like, but also—in addition to literally being the youngest — I felt small in comparison to the grand scheme of the world. Seeing new parts of the planet almost every weekend instilled an appreciation in me for just how large and amazing our world is.
As well as seeing the bigger picture of things, I was also introduced to the history and culture of these different countries. Europe in particular is weighted with history, and it has an inescapable presence when travelling this continent.
Compared to North America where it’s rare to find infrastructure older than 100 years-old, 200 years-old is extremely young by European standards. In a city like Prague, the history is even felt when walking down the streets.
Although feeling like a grain of sand on the enormous beach of history, travelling helped me truly feel like a citizen of the world, not of just one city. When faced with an outstanding amount of new information, you really do obtain new perspectives.
Travelling enhanced my social skills as I interacted with innumerable individuals from diverse backgrounds and cultures. Of course, my hometown of Toronto is a very multicultural city, but the cultures that have landed in ‘The Six’ play second fiddle to their home countries.
Albeit true that the trips themselves were phenomenal, company really makes the journey memorable. With such an absurd amount of time spent in each other’s company, you learn things about your travel buddies that may have never come to the surface in any other situation. Travelling with friends is an entirely different experience and one that creates a whole new type of friendship.
I have no doubt that I can truly depend on the friends I made this year. After all, what is friendship if not following someone up a mountain in the Portuguese countryside for an extra two hours longer than it was supposed to take? Yes, we got lost but don’t worry, we eventually made it to the top.
This year I fulfilled dreams I didn’t even know I had. I had no idea what to expect going into my year abroad. I figured I’d make some friends, go on a few trips and then return to my high school friends at main campus as the same person I was when I left. I didn’t comprehend just how meaningful the year would be or how I’d change as an individual. I don’t think I’m any different; I’m simply more myself. The one goal I actually set in advance was achieved: I abandoned my comfort zone and had an adventure of a lifetime.
Deciding to take a year abroad can be a scary one — but the experience may be immeasurable.
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