Ever since I was a little girl, I always loved travelling. From going to Palm Springs, CA for Thanksgiving to spending a warm Christmas on the Island of Hawai’i, my childhood was luckily filled with travels and fun adventures. Once I came to college and had a few years under my belt, I knew that I needed to travel before I stepped into the real world. The study abroad trip to Italy through my sociology program sounded like a great opportunity.
Now that I am back in Texas after my trip to Italy, here are a few reasons why you should study abroad.
1: Building Relationships
One of the best ways to connect with people, in my opinion, is going through unique, and possibly stressful experiences. I was able to build friendships with my classmates that I can keep with me forever. Before we went on this trip, I only knew three of my classmates. One of them ended up being my roommate on the trip and the other two I knew only from other classes, so getting to know the rest of them really made a difference on my trip. We collectively learned so much from one another and I wouldn’t have had that experience otherwise.
From our really annoyingly long walking tours and many delayed suitcases to nights out on the town, our experiences together made all the difference, and I know that I’ll keep these friendships with me forever.
2: Becoming more empathetic
When you find yourself in a new, challenging environment, it comes without saying that you will have to be more aware of how other cultures interact with one another, and how to act in public places. In Sicily, their culture is slow, quiet and peaceful. Any deviation from that could potentially come off as rude or disruptive, when, in America, it is more common.
For example, restaurants are a lot quieter because people talk more quietly. Being loud in a restaurant may be seen as rude. In that case, my classmates and I had to be empathetic and understanding of their culture, rather than be disrespectful and disregard their way of life. This taught me a lot about how to manage my own actions, but also how we differ from other parts of the world, and that our way of life, isn’t always the best or only way to be.
3: Learning and practicing a new language!
My favorite part of the whole trip to Sicily was learning Italian. Of course, I still have some work to do, but it felt amazing getting compliments about my accent and pronunciation of words I didn’t know before, and I was so excited to get to practice on my own. Learning a new language is really tough, but it helps me better understand people and gives me the opportunity to try something new.
All in all, my trip to Italy taught me so much about how to be empathetic, my capacity for new friendships, and the Italian language. If you’re considering studying abroad (even if it is during the summer), you should go for it! Only good can come out of it, and I promise, it is worth it.