It’s been about a week now since I’ve flown home to the States and I’m back in my room, staring at the all too familiar pink striped carpet and laying in the same bed I was laying in right before I left. I would say that everything is the same, but something has changed; and that something is me.
It is such a cliché to say that going abroad changed me, but don’t clichés exist because they are relatable and real? To elaborate though, I wouldn’t say it was going abroad itself that changed me. It was the experiences I went through and the people I met. I pushed myself to do and experience things out of my comfort zone because I believe that is where the most personal growth can occur; and I can definitely say I am more independent and comfortable with myself because of this experience.
When I look back at the blog post I wrote before I left, I wrote a lot about how the trip would be inherently lonely. While there were moments I was by myself, I never truly felt alone because the connections I made with the people there were beyond anything I could have ever anticipated. I had thought that the friends I would make wouldn’t get to know me to my core, but I think they might know me better than most of my friends that I’ve known for years! There’s something about all being vulnerable in a new place with new surroundings that forces you to open up to each other at an extremely rapid pace. As we traveled around Europe and experienced new cultures, we only had each other to rely on. That helps form bonds that can last a lifetime.
Adjusting back to the States is more difficult than I thought. I just came from London, a place known as a ‘global city’ due to its mixture of every culture in one place. Now, I’m back in my small town where everyone is kind of the same. It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that the life I lived in London is no longer one I can return to. It almost feels like some bizarre dream where people asked me ‘you all right?’ instead of ‘what’s up’ and were dead silent on the tube as I commuted an hour to work every day. Did that really happen? Since no one in my life in Florida understands, how could it have been real?
But it was real and I keep reminding myself that. I talk to my study abroad friends every day. I relive my favorite memories from photos in my phone when I miss it too much. I still keep my Tube card in my phone case just because I like looking at it! Even though everything here in Florida has stayed the same, the lessons I learned will always be with me no matter where I go next in life.