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by Liliana Rhodes<\/span>\u00a0| Fall 2023\u00a0 |<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Studying abroad has honestly changed me as a person in ways I never imagined. It has been incredibly formative in opening up my mind to new perspectives, cultures, and people. The memories and lessons I gained from this experience will stay with me forever and undoubtedly leave a huge mark on my life. As I have gotten older, I have had many more opportunities to travel, and it never fails to leave me in awe of God and his creation. During my study abroad semester, I had the opportunity to visit various parts of Italy, Greece, the Czech Republic, and Austria. Additionally, I primarily explored German towns such as Garmisch Partenkirchen, Dresden, Torgau, Wittenberg, Munich, Berlin, Erfurt, Frankfurt, and Weimar, but I have especially found a home in Leipzig. I have also lived in Texas my entire life, so seeing the architecture and nature around Europe has been so different than what I am used to in the best way possible. Being immersed in a new culture has been a challenge; however, it has pushed me to step out of my comfort zone and try new things. The German culture, in particular, is unique and has a lot to offer in terms of lifestyle and practices. I have learned a lot about the importance of health, both physically and mentally, and I hope to incorporate some of these practices into my life back home.<\/span><\/p>\n One of the biggest ways that I have grown from this experience is by encountering God in new and unexpected ways. Whether it was through the people I met, the places I visited, or the experiences I had, I saw God moving and working in a way that I had not experienced before. I am especially grateful for the opportunity to share it with others. Traveling is incredibly unique in the way that it enables you to gain a greater perspective and bond with others. Although it sounds clich\u00e9, I have discovered that the people you are with create your home and not the places you are in. Over time, I have grown super close to many people in the villa, and it is sad to think that we will never all be living together again. I hope that I do not forget all the little moments like the movie nights, cooking together, dance parties, playing cards on the train, and the late-night talks. All of these memories together are what have made the semester so special. We have shared countless moments of laughter, joy, and adventure, and I truly believe that we will remain friends far past our time in college.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Regardless of the places that I was in, the entire study abroad experience was so incredible. There is no place I have traveled to that did not teach me something valuable. I will forever be grateful for this experience and how it has had such a positive impact on my life and faith.<\/span><\/p>\n \n \n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_gallery gallery_ids=”71876,71877,71878,71879,71880″ show_title_and_caption=”off” _builder_version=”4.23.1″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_gallery][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Liliana Rhodes\u00a0| Fall 2023\u00a0 | Studying abroad has honestly changed me as a person in ways I never imagined. It has been incredibly formative in opening up my mind to new perspectives, cultures, and people. The memories and lessons I gained from this experience will stay with me forever and undoubtedly leave a huge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20655,"featured_media":71880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20655"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71871"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71882,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71871\/revisions\/71882"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}