So many things have happened since I first arrived in England, dead on my feet after being awake close to twenty-four hours. I\u2019ve toured so many places in England, Wales, and Scotland, and I was even allowed the opportunity to travel for thanksgiving break outside the UK, places I had previously thought would be impossible to see in light of Covid. But I did see them, and I learned so much.<\/p>\n
When previous students of study abroad speak on the subject, one thing that seems consistent between them all is how the experience changes you. For some, peace of mind is gained, independence is earned, and friendships are formed. This. . . Wasn\u2019t quite what happened to me. As strange as it may sound, I went into this program wanting, actually wishing for this to change my life. I wanted to enter this program and come away a new person, a better person. I wanted to be exciting and fearless, learning cultures and gaining invaluable experience. In reality, it wasn\u2019t quite like that but to say it wasn\u2019t life changing would be a lie.<\/p>\n
Life never follows a plan and is never how you expect. I love the UK and everything in it, but as time went on I realized that things weren\u2019t going how I expected. I\u2019m not a different person, I haven\u2019t gained any new talents or mysterious knowledge, but I have found this experience to be a test. It\u2019s a test that doesn\u2019t matter whether you\u2019ve gone to Montevideo or Oxford, and it doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re in introvert or extrovert. The test is a challenge. It demands for you to fully embrace another culture in every way. To accept it\u2019s mistakes and sorrows and to celebrate their history and legacy. Study abroad asks that we become a part of the culture that we step into, and to acknowledge that the world is so much bigger than anything we\u2019ve seen before.<\/p>\n
And I won\u2019t lie to you, it\u2019s really hard sometimes. I\u2019m a homebody, I\u2019m an introvert, and to find myself in a place with seventeen strangers in a time zone six hours from home? I found myself in dark places sometimes, and many tears were shed. But coming back from this, I feel so much stronger in myself and my loved ones. I can say to myself that I did it, I lived my own life and my family lived theirs, and we all came out okay. And that wasn\u2019t even the only thing I learned! Before study abroad, I procrastinated, I was unfocused, and I honestly felt a little directionless. Now (though I still procrastinate), I have found so much deeper meaning in my faith and in my work. I have never felt more spiritually close to God than I have while studying abroad. And there are other things, little things, like knowing how to respect difference, work through issues, or even just making it on time to the train station that come with being somewhere so entirely different from what you know.<\/p>\n
In essence, I didn\u2019t travel abroad and magically return popular and charming, that\u2019s not me and it\u2019s something I\u2019ve learned about myself. But what I have returned with? It\u2019s lessons learned, memories made, spiritual growth, and so many other things that are just priceless treasures in my heart. And I find myself excited to come home, not only to reunite with my loved ones, but also to share my discoveries with everyone I know, hopefully, giving them a little piece of what I found while studying abroad.<\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/07\/Allee-Casey-Fall-21-Oxford-5-Allee-Casey-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Allee Casey Fall 21 Oxford 5 – Allee Casey” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/07\/Allee-Casey-Fall-21-Oxford-4-Allee-Casey-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Allee Casey Fall 21 Oxford 4 – Allee Casey” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/07\/Allee-Casey-Fall-21-Oxford-3-Allee-Casey.jpg” title_text=”Allee Casey Fall 21 Oxford 3 – Allee Casey” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/blogs.acu.edu\/honorscollege\/files\/2022\/07\/Allee-Casey-Fall-21-Oxford-1-Allee-Casey-scaled.jpg” title_text=”Allee Casey Fall 21 Oxford 1 – Allee Casey” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When previous students of study abroad speak on the subject, one thing that seems consistent between them all is how the experience changes you. For some, peace of mind is gained, independence is earned, and friendships are formed. This. . . wasn\u2019t quite what happened to me. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20655,"featured_media":5752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[22860,571,22861,496],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-acu-honors","tag-oxford","tag-oxford-study-abroad","tag-study-abroad"],"yoast_head":"\n