Cougs Abroad Prompt 10: Reflecting on Change

Cougs Abroad Blog Squad asks me to consider an aspect in which I have changed during my study abroad exprience.

As I was beginning to pack in the few days before my departure, I found myself with a sinking heart and wondered, “Why am I doing this?” Why had I decided to uproot myself from my comfortable life at WSU and at home, move myself away from my friends into a country I had never visited, and attempt to live off the contents of my suitcase and the remainder of my money from work for three months? What was the benefit of making myself so uncomfortable when I could return to the routine of school where I had already paved over the difficulties?

Interestingly, nearly three months to the day I was asking myself a similar thing as I rolled my suitcase to the curb where my taxi waited, tears rolling down my face shamelessly as I said goodbye to the friends I had grown close to over the past semester. Why was I leaving?

At the beginning of my experience abroad I could never have imagined how close I would grow to the country, the school, and the people, and I am extremely grateful I stepped outside of my comfort zone to pursue this opportunity. My whole life I will have the memories of my travels and studies and my gradual acclimation to living in the UK, and if there is one respect in which I have changed the most, it is in my ability to embrace opportunities regardless of how “uncomfortable” they may seem. I am a creature of habit, and disruptions to my routine, especially moving from place to place, I had seen as an inconvenience worth avoiding. Going abroad helped me recognize that I am not rooted to one spot but capable of independent exploration of whatever strikes my fancy, and that there is a much larger world than the trail I pace between Pullman and home. I expressed to a friend once how I found it bizarre I had rested my head in so many different places, from several different hostels on a week-long trip with friends to three different countries in the British Isles, back to my bed at “home” in Scotland. My time abroad challenged me to withstand the “inconvenience” of things like living out of a backpack, for the reward of spending less on luggage fees to see more on our trips was well worth my initial discomfort.

After my time abroad I feel as if my eyes have been opened to the world outside my own, and I know now that I am capable of exploring it as an independent, self-contained individual. Of course it is best to travel with friends, and I am so grateful for the opportunities my travel companions at Stirling helped me find and discover and the experiences we shared. My experience abroad helped me step outside of my comfort zone in both areas of travel and everyday life in a foreign country, and I feel more than ever prepared to face new challenges at home and at school now that I understand myself better as an individual.