For as long as I can remember I've always had this deep desire to explore new places, so studying abroad was a no brainer to me - the opportunity presented itself to me and I knew I would regret it forever if I didn't seize it. I thoroughly researched all the universities available to me for an exchange and eventually I set my heart on going to study at Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, Ohio. After having finished the month or so at my host university, I can honestly say that it is the best decision I have ever made in my life so far.
Submitting my application was the easy part. For the next few months I was googling everything I would be able to do in Ohio, and everywhere I could travel from the place where I would be living. It was exhilarating. But then the reality of it all hit, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I was going to be flying off to live in another country for 10 months. The fears of 'how will I cope being so far away from home?', 'will I make friends?' and 'will I be able to keep up with a different style of teaching?' were very real. Thankfully, I managed to get settled in pretty quickly. The staff and students at Baldwin Wallace University are all super friendly. I was quickly able to bond with all the other international students and now I have this amazing new group of friends who are from different countries all over the world. My worries about not making friends were quickly squashed when I realised that there were other international students who were going through the same thing as me. I've found that it's easy to bond with people when you're on the same journey.
Submitting my application was the easy part. For the next few months I was googling everything I would be able to do in Ohio, and everywhere I could travel from the place where I would be living. It was exhilarating. But then the reality of it all hit, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't scared. I was going to be flying off to live in another country for 10 months. The fears of 'how will I cope being so far away from home?', 'will I make friends?' and 'will I be able to keep up with a different style of teaching?' were very real. Thankfully, I managed to get settled in pretty quickly. The staff and students at Baldwin Wallace University are all super friendly. I was quickly able to bond with all the other international students and now I have this amazing new group of friends who are from different countries all over the world. My worries about not making friends were quickly squashed when I realised that there were other international students who were going through the same thing as me. I've found that it's easy to bond with people when you're on the same journey.
I don't think I've ever expressed my love for multiculturalism on my blog before. These days, at least in the UK, there is a growing amount of people who wrongly believe that multiculturalism is a bad thing, and that's a terribly upsetting thought. I think it's important to be able to learn from people who are from different backgrounds to you. It's only when you can respect the culture, religion and language of other people that you can truly grow as a person. The world is such a big place and you are only one tiny part of it. It's important to have the opportunity and the ability to work and be friends with people outside of everything that you know, especially when in the modern world advances in travel have led to the world seeming like it's a smaller place. If you can't live and cooperate with other people then you will not get very far in life. Thanks to studying abroad, I now have such a diverse group of friends and an even larger respect for other cultures than I had before. | Sometimes I just take some time to myself to stop and think about how much I appreciate everything in my life right now, and my love for the people who helped me get here. My parents have been relentlessly supportive of my choices (even if they didn't necessarily want me to be away from home for so long) and all the opportunities that I've had in my life would not have been possible without them. My family are the best. Also, to my friends who thought I was crazy brave for deciding to do this, you should know that I was in fact terrified and it was only with your supportive words that I was able to actually go ahead with this. I look forward the adventures that are in store for me this year. |