The song “Somewhere Only We Know,” by Keane, is the perfect way to describe the feeling you get after you complete a study abroad program with UCBA.
You leave feeling a special connection with people you would have never even known, and you come back home with many unbelievable memories and experiences. Most importantly you grow as a person and as a student in ways that you would never imagine when you first apply to the program.
For me, studying abroad awakened something within myself that made me look at the world differently. It made me grow into a person who was capable of so much more than I thought. Being so far away from home and all of the things that you’ve grown up knowing can be scary. What I learned from studying abroad is that the things that scare you the most offer you the best life lessons that you could ever learn.
One experience that was a life lesson for me was when I traveled for four hours on two trains by myself to Edinburgh, Scotland, to meet up with other students in the program who left a day earlier. Not only was I traveling from another country to another country, but I also had to navigate a foreign train system alone.
Students in the 2014 UCBA British Study Program contemplate the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (Photo courtesy of Maya Odom)
This small task showed me how strong I actually am. It allowed me to see that I’m a lot braver than I thought. Being someone who is shy and at times nervous around people, this experience broke me out of my shell.
I found myself talking to locals who were more than happy to help me on my journey to Scotland as well as give me advice on what to do and see while I was there.
When you learn about important people and places in history, you usually refer to a picture in a book, but when you study abroad you get to actually see these places in real life. You no longer wonder how big or small these places are because they are now right in front of you.
This happened to me when my study abroad group reached Paris. On our very first day we all went to see The Eiffel Tower. We walked out of the metro station and a few blocks only to find ourselves face to face with such a well-known Paris landmark.
I kept thinking to myself, “Am I really here. What do I do next?” Thankfully, both of my professors, Sue Sipple and Eric Anderson, were there to give us advice on what we should see and do.
When you have professors who really care about the subjects that they are teaching, it makes you want to learn as much as you possibly can. They both took us to interesting museums and landmarks, and taught us how to get around on the Tube and Metro.
Overall I couldn’t possibly think of anything better to do when you’re in college than to learn abroad. It truly is a life changing experience.