by Kate Born| Fall 2024 |
My time abroad was filled with way too many wonderful things to fit in 500 words. I have loved this experience and will remember it for the rest of my life. This semester has taught me to appreciate different cultures, to go with the flow and be flexible, and to be intentional with my time.
First of all, my study abroad experience has given me a wider perspective of the world and an appreciation for other cultures. You can’t appreciate something if you don’t have some understanding of it. I’d never been out of the United States before, and this semester has been an awesome opportunity to learn more about the world and the people in it. It was so interesting to learn about the British governmental system, education system, and culture in Global Studies. Growing up in America, that was all I had known, but it is very eye-opening to see how other countries do things differently.
I also loved reading British literature and realizing how it has influenced so much of the world. There were so many great authors who came from Oxford. Additionally, I took an honors colloquium about design thinking, and my group researched ways of making the ACU Oxford study abroad experience more accessible to people with wheelchairs. We learned to think about problems from different angles, so that solutions can come from different angles as well. While I learned so many things in my classes and time in Oxford, I also grew through my weekend travels. I visited London, Wrexham, Wales, Santorini, Greece, Marseille, France, Ambleside and Hawes, in the Lake District, Lapland, Finland, Milan, Italy, and Zagreb, Croatia. I loved hearing all the different languages/accents from each place that I went, and I was surprised to find it’s not that hard to communicate even if you don’t speak the same language. I had a funny experience playing charades with a grocer in Marseille. All I needed was laundry detergent. He spoke French, I spoke English, and we had to be creative to communicate.
Secondly, travelling and being in a new place have taught me to go with the flow more and be flexible. We can’t control how things turn out, and nothing is going to go perfectly, but we can control how we respond and what attitude we have. There were a few nights spent at the airport and a few missed trains, but with the right attitude and a fun group of friends, most negatives can be turned to positives.
Finally, being in Europe has made me want to get the most out of my short time here. Living like that has made me question why I didn’t live like that in America. Changing to a new place, as exciting as that is, has made me appreciate home more and want to appreciate it more coming back. We only have one life, and I don’t want to spend it ‘getting through’ to the next big thing or next break. I want to be intentional with my time. I won’t be in college forever, and each stage of life has its joys and its challenges. If we focus on the challenges, we will never be content. God has given us so much to be thankful for if we will only open our eyes to see it.
I would encourage anyone, if they have the chance, to study abroad. It is an amazing, challenging, eye-opening time, and I have learned and grown so much through it.
