by Jessica Edo| Summer 2024 |
Like many others, I was nervous about traveling to a separate country alone. I would leave my home and family for Germany, a place I knew little about. However, I was passionate about the opportunity to experience an entirely new culture and see more of the world beyond my worldview. When I got to Leipzig, the first thing I realized was that I wasn’t on my own. The RA was an amazing person, and the resident director ensured that we built a safe, loving community among all of us. It was a struggle adjusting from living on my own to living with about 22 other people, but it helped me immensely in building my communication skills and forming relationships with people I normally would not have the opportunity to meet. I learned a lot of conflict resolution skills and picked up skills from the people I spent time with that will be useful for me going forward.
While my study abroad experience was based in Leipzig, Germany, I had the chance to visit Spain, Italy, Austria, and Prague and take day trips around Germany. This experience showed me the importance of going out to meet new people and learn from them. I got to try a variety of food and various culturally relevant experiences in Germany, like the Bach festival, which was impactful for me. I was surrounded by people who not only encouraged me to embrace the educational opportunities that I was being exposed to, but also the spiritual ones. I grew from the weekly chapels and small groups we had, and particularly loved the worship opportunities that we were given.
Throughout this trip, I read books like “The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down,” which highlight how one’s culture can affect their view of healthcare. I have also gained more understanding of how important it is to respect someone else’s culture and how to listen to others even when we do not understand or believe in their culture. While this is something that I have always understood on paper, traveling and experiencing it in conversations I have had with people has been immensely important for my growth.
I am back in Dallas now, but for me, the experience is not really over. I am so different from the person I was before going on the trip. I feel more culturally open and recognize a desire in myself to become more immersed in diverse cultures that may be different from mine. I still think about the jokes my roommate and I had, our late-night conversations, and walks, and the life lessons that they taught me while studying abroad. I think about the people I met on the trip and plane rides who were happy to share what it was like from their worldview and give me the enlightenment I had been seeking. Study abroad is an experience that I would recommend to anyone and would not trade for the world.
