My senior year of high school, I could not wait to leave. To start a new chapter, to leave home and everything I knew behind. I usually am not someone who eats their words, but boy, did I this time.
I spent my first semester of my freshman year abroad, in Rome, Italy, a dive into the deep end. I was excited; I had lived abroad my entire childhood, and I thought four months would fly by and be a piece of cake compared to the eight years I had previously done.
When I got to Rome, everything was incredible: meeting new people, seeing new places, eating new food… Everything seemed perfect. Once the dust settled and the reality of life began to creep in, things ended up taking a turn.
I met a lot of great people in Rome, but it was nothing like my hometown friends. I would say I have around seven or eight extremely close hometown friends (which I am aware is pretty abnormal), but I can say, in full confidence, all of them are some of the kindest, most genuine and strongest women I know.
Half of my friends and I initially became friends our freshmen year of high school, while the other half, I became friends with my junior year. My friends and I are not perfect; we all have our flaws and have had our share of fights. But, what was most notable was that through it all, no matter how severe an argument or an issue, we continued to stick by each other’s sides and continue to grow as people, learning from our mistakes.
I think another notable theme in my friendships with these people was the time in our lives in which we became friends. Being a 16, 17 and 18-year-old girl is not easy. We all saved each other through extremely hard experiences, some shared, some not. But again, through it all, we would stick with each other, no matter what.
When I was abroad, I had a very, very hard time trying to replicate these same connections. It felt like no matter what conversation I had, or how long I had known that person, it was very challenging to find that depth in connection.
I became very homesick, and for almost the entirety of the semester, I wanted to go home. Once I did end up going home, I had never cried harder in my life. I could not believe that I ever wanted to move away from the people who love me most.
Things now are much better. I have made long-lasting friendships here in Boston, and I am overall a much happier person. With all this being said however, I am so happy that I did go abroad and did leave these people for a short time, because had I not, I would have never valued them and appreciated them in the way I do now.