Words of Wisdom

Oxford, U.K.

My time studying abroad is coming to an end. My flight leaves for Phoenix on December 14, so I have less than two weeks here in the U.K. It is bittersweet. I am ready to go home because I miss my friends and family, and I miss the food and routine I had back in the States. But I will miss my new friends, ease of public transport, and opportunities to travel. Studying abroad has been one of the best decisions I have made for my academic career and I am grateful for the experience to learn and grow from it.  
My life will be very different going back to the States. Just as I was uprooted to go abroad, I will continue to be uprooted going back. I am finishing my last semester at NAU in anticipation of graduating in May 2025. The next few months of my life will be a time of endings and beginnings. I think it will be hard going back to the way things were before I left. I have grown accustomed to the entire world being at my fingertips because of how easy travel has been. I have traveled to six nations including England since arriving in early September. When I go home, I will make an effort to educate myself more about the culture and current events of other countries. The study abroad experience has opened my eyes to how limited U.S. education has been in educating me about global history. So I plan to take my education back into my own hands by paying attention to things that are not in the American news cycle. I have thoroughly enjoyed immersing myself in other cultures, and will greatly miss exploring new places for a while. In the meantime, I will watch more documentaries and read more books—when I have time outside of classes of course. There is so much in the U.S. I have yet to explore, so I am more excited than ever to see more of the U.S. I will also try to be greener in my everyday practices. I have always recycled, and I will continue to do so. I wish the U.S. had more plastic-free packaging, but in the meantime, I will seek out brands that commit themselves to being greener. 

This experience has prepared me for international travel and domestic travel within the U.S. The world seems more accessible to me now because I have traveled some of Europe with friends and by myself. I have gained a better understanding of how public transportation works. It has made me less afraid of language barriers and communicating with people from other cultures. I am more confident that people all around the world are more similar than commonly thought. I have found comfort in every new place I go, and leave wanting to immerse myself more. The study abroad experience has made me even better adaptable to change. My biggest fear of moving abroad was that I would be unable to make friends. I have learned I can make friends wherever I go, and learn and adapt to different cultures. In other words, the other half of the world does not seem so big and scary. The term “across the pond” now has a different meaning to me now that I have experienced it. 
 
Going forward I will be more sensitive to cultural differences and lived experiences. I want to seek to understand different ways of life. I understand now some of the difficulties that come with settling into a new place and assimilating into a foreign culture. I only got a small taste of it too, I believe this experience is amplified for people moving to countries that speak other languages or have different social structures. Moving abroad has been a consistent learning process, a process that will not cease upon my departure. The U.S. is a mixing pot of cultures and perspectives and leaving will make me appreciate it even more. Culture goes beyond the way people eat and dress—it is interwoven in everyday actions and interactions. The classes I have taken have broadened my knowledge as a person and also as a journalist. I gained a lot more historical context for places I knew next to nothing about. Though the classes I am taking are not “journalism” classes, they will make me a better interviewer and writer. 
 
I am thankful for everyone who made this experience possible for me because I could not have done it alone. I am sad to leave, but forever grateful for this new perspective I have earned from studying abroad. 

My biggest piece of advice:

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Me, Edith, Violet, Lucia, Belle, and Emily (left to right)

This blog post was written for HON491C