If you’re reading this, I assume you’re wondering, what did I learn while I was abroad? (As this is the entire point of this short-ish personal narrative—which means you care enough to follow along as I come up with a viable answer). Thank you for asking.
To be completely honest with you, as I was sitting on my plane ready to take off on my return flight back from London to Texas, I was thinking the very same thing. I was quietly thinking to myself that I had already pictured this exact moment months ago—when everything that now makes up this story was still in front of me.
In order to secure an internship opportunity abroad, Rollins’ International Programs Office requires you to partake in a practice interview, so that they can give you constructive criticism that you’re meant to utilize whilst you are interviewing with your perspective future employers abroad. There was one question in the entirety of that interview that stood out to me; it struck a chord with me when I was looking around at the empty seats that surrounded me. “When you’re leaving London, what do you expect you’ll be thinking about? Why?”
I’d suspect that that’s exactly what they mean when they say, “That’s the million-dollar question.”
Studying abroad has taught me more about myself than anything else I’ve ever done. The people I was fortunate enough to cross paths with made all the difference. My perspective, and inevitably, my life has changed as a result. My internship experience was very unique. I was the first intern that my political group office has ever had—which granted me a special sort of position in the office. Special in the sense that, since there hasn’t been anyone before me, expectations were all over the place. I commend the team for being willing to take on the challenge of changing the status quo. Adding an entirely new personality, sharing the work-load, trusting someone new with the responsibility of maintaining carefully cultivated relationships, having to transition from what’s normal, especially with someone who’s much younger, has a very bubbly and sometimes overwhelming personality, and who above all, is foreign, is a difficult feat to accept. For the opportunity to have made a mark on this team and vise-versa, meet and come to befriend local politicians from all across the UK, and act as a researcher, a confidante, a barista, a culture-absorber, a listener, a phone-answerer, a problem-solver, I am very grateful. The experience I will remember most importantly from this internship, however, is how to effectively manage a team. A coach, teacher, employer, parent, leader, should be prepared to make sacrifices for their team. This person shouldn’t think of themselves as the “head” per se, unless it’s merely figurative. This person, whether it’s yourself or someone else, should learn how to recognize
the strengths of the people they are fortunate enough to lead. They should know how, and when, is appropriate to play each member of the team and know when it’s time to take a seat on the bench. I would classify this internship as political for sure, but not necessarily in the ways you might expect.
Through my internship, I made my very best British friend, who also happened to be a member of my political team. Friendship actually seemed to be at the forefront of what I learned from being abroad. I knew that friendships would be made, but I genuinely didn’t expect them to be the most important thing I learned. I never expected to have made the bonds that I did as strongly as I did, nor did I ever think I even needed a lesson on friendship. But then again, we never think we need the lesson do we?
I am the type to spend a considerable amount of time trying to please people. I am deeply uncomfortable with even the thought of someone disliking me (I’m still working on this part).
But I learned that not everyone can be your best friend. And, that you deserve to get to dislike things about people too, so that you can discover who best fits with you. I had never even considered this to be a truth of life before. Quite frankly, I thought that I was immune, because I’ve always been able to overcome differences and ultimately achieve that happy, go-lucky ending that you read about or watch on tv. Being abroad has taught me that you just have to be okay with agreeing to disagree with some people. This doesn’t mean that you have to dislike everything about them, or that you shouldn’t still look for the silver lining. I still think that doing so is just as important as the lesson I learned.