I never thought coming back from abroad I would be so happy to be home. Jacobs seems almost like a distant blur, and thank god for that.
One of the biggest surprises coming back from abroad would be the reverse culture shock. During my first week at Jacobs we did intercultural training (because it is an international school) and they taught us about not only culture shock, but reverse culture shock. Adjusting to life back home and at Rollins has been strange and difficult. Especially because I didn’t have the best experience abroad; I spent so much time alone and with nothing to do, adjusting to being thrown back into an active social life and responsibility has been overwhelming. Nevertheless, I am excited to get back to school, back to a routine, back to my friends and back to real life. The best way I can explain the feeling of coming back from abroad is that it is the equivalent to reading trilogy and skipping the second book. Everything is different, I’m different, but at the same time everyone else has moved on as if everything is normal. You’re very confused and you need to be caught up on what you missed in the second book.
As hard as my experience abroad was, I really appreciate the way I have grown from my experience. I spent a lot of my time abroad reflecting on my experiences and gaining a better sense of self awareness and independence. I definitely returned feeling like a much more global citizen and far less ignorant. As an international relations major that’s all I can really ask for isn’t it?
The past three months have been a rollercoaster of emotions and adventure. I know I have said some negative things about my experience in my past blog posts but I would whole heartedly recommend everyone study abroad… just, maybe not at Jacobs. I can honestly say I believe I would have had a great experience if I went to Italy, Australia, Spain, and many more places. To anyone planning to spend a semester at Jacobs, I highly suggest researching extensively exactly what you’re getting yourself into before making such a big and life changing decision.