The Biggest Lessons I Learned from a Semester Abroad

I hate how cliché it sounds, but it’s a plain and simple fact that when you decide to embark on an academic semester or year in another country, you won’t come back the same person that you were when you departed. The time that you’ll be gone for will go by in the blink of an eye and you’ll be back home wishing for someone to take you back.

As amazing as a study abroad journey is, it is so much more than your Instagram profile, which will most likely be filled from top to bottom with you in front of iconic places, legendary views, and new people you have crossed paths with. Behind the incredible photographs there will be moments of struggle, of unideal situations, or of academic rigor at times. It’s what happens during those uninstagrammable moments (unless you post everything) that you’ll grow and learn new things about yourself.

Here are just a few of the major lessons that I learned during my time in Maastricht, Netherlands.

• Extreme Independence

Perhaps many of you have already experienced this if you left home for college, but I decided to live at home and go to my local university. In other words, living in the Netherlands was the first time I was away from anything and everything familiar and comfortable. However, you learn fast when it’s all on you. From learning how to cook decent meals, to buying a bicycle and learning to ride with traffic, to adapting to a totally new academic style and culture, I learned about my strengths and capabilities.

I think I was already somewhat like this before I left, but when you’re abroad, you end up spending a lot of time with just yourself. New study abroad friends don’t always have the same travel destinations in mind, and between studying and different schedules, and solo trips, you spend a good amount of time learning to be alone (which I think is invaluable), despite your social circle dramatically expanding at the same time.

• The World Does Not Revolve Around America

I never had this view before I left, but it’s so easy to get caught up in this American-centric mindset. We are constantly bombarded by the new outlandish thing our president tweets, and the 24/7 news cycle of everything happening in the US. After living with Europeans from across the continent and working on academic projects with people from around the world, you gain a deeper global and cultural understanding. Now, after coming back to the US, it feels like I’m hyper aware of the bubble that we Americans are living in. Even though there’s a tremendous amount of beauty and lessons to be learned from the diversity of America, when you’re in constant interaction with locals and non-Americans abroad, it opens your mind up to the different values, perspectives, and ways that people live.

Also, we live in this globalized world with news from all over, but reading about what happens and actually experiencing events in real life are much different. For instance, national train strikes in France along with weekly Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protests, plus riots in Barcelona, all had direct effects on travel plans and decisions.

• It’s All About Gratitude

I think the most profound lesson I took away from my time abroad was how much more grateful and self-aware I’ve become. The moment I realized this was when my friend brought me to the House of Worship for the Baha’i faith in Frankfurt. I don’t consider myself a religious person, but for over an hour, I meditated and reflected on all of my experiences and everything and everyone that had brought me to that moment. Everyday since then I’ve reflected on my blessings and acknowledged how incredibly lucky I am for this life that I’m living. I’m grateful for every bicycle ride throughout Maastricht, every incredible weekend trip to a new place with awesome people, and every obstacle I had overcome during my time there.

And now being back home, even though it sucked at first, I wake up extremely grateful for everything. I feel like a very different person – a much better person – than the Keanu that had left only five months ago.