For months now, I have been telling my friends and family about my upcoming trip to study abroad at the Queen Mary University of London. Immediately, I received the question that would flood my mind for the entire summer, “Are you excited?”. It puzzled me, because I didn’t feel the usual giddy feeling I would expect. Even so, I did my preparations, research, and packing for my trip across the pond, all the while feeling a lack of enthusiasm.
The summer flew by, and finally my trip had begun. Today, I made my first leg of the trip, by crossing the border to Canada to fly out of Toronto. As I was crossing bridge, leaving behind my home nation that I realized why I had felt so nonchalant. It was not through lack of interest or excitement, but rather the surreal nature of living on your own in an incredible new place without any idea what to expect. In a flash I felt everything; the fear of the unknown, the love of adventure, and finally a wave of excitement. Ohio to Florida had been a hard adjustment too, with the weather and people calling pop “soda”, but nothing would compare with a whole different county and continent. But that is the truly magnificent part of study abroad, the complete immersion with another culture which is a rare experience to get.
I felt like a freak for not being completely jazzed about my international travels, and I hoped to reach out to others that might feel the same. Even if you don’t feel excited, you are. But you are also scared, and happy, and nervous, and a whole mess of emotions at the same time. Just like entering college, you are changing your life and it’ll take some time to adjust to the idea of it. So, if you don’t feel those little butterflies in your stomach when talking about your trip, just wait. One day, you will be leaving your house, closing the door behind you, and feeling a flood of emotions with a single thought “Wow, this is real” and you never look back.