As college students, we only have four years to make the most out of our being a twenty-something-year-old with no real responsibility to name, and nothing to tie us down. Although I can think of plenty of times that this excuse has come in really handy in an attempt to explain some of my actions, there is a single event in my college career that takes the cake on this.
For four months last spring, I lived and studied in Florence, Italy. According to the Gustavus website, on average, 400 Gusties study abroad every year. A question I have to ask the underclassmen is, why not you?
Before I decided to embark on what would end up being the greatest experience of my life thus far, I had never pictured myself as the type of girl to just take off and live in a foreign country for an entire semester. Not only could I not financially picture it being feasible; I had never left the country, had only flown twice, had never really lived on my own before and had failed at my attempts to learn another language.
Thankfully, I had numerous positive people surrounding me who encouraged me to at least look into the possibility and really pushed me out of my comfort zone. Before I knew it, I found myself standing in line in the airport with two overly full suitcases and a passport in my hand.
Miriam Beard once said, “Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.” This quote has proven to be more relevant in my life than I ever thought possible. Traveling really does change a person, especially when you allow yourself to be fully engulfed in a culture: the way you look at life in general, the small details you recognize in mundane activities and the personal characteristics you are able to see in yourself.
By being able to throw yourself out of your comfort zone, away from the protected bubble at Gustavus, you are able to find out more about yourself than you ever thought possible. I was able to find a sense of independence I had not fully recognized, to get lost in a foreign city and just be lost, to learn a foreign language, go grocery shopping (for food labeled in a different language!) and to learn to appreciate just walking through an entirely different culture. The memories I was fortunate enough to create during my time in Italy will last a lifetime. I still have to remind myself that although I am now sitting in the library in St. Peter, I was actually sipping wine outside the Duomo just a few months ago.
When asked to give advice to underclassmen, the first and most important thing I can think of is to at least look into studying abroad. You never know what you are capable of until you push yourself outside of your comfort zone and really let yourself face the unknown.
When are we really going to have the opportunity to travel the world again with no responsibility holding us back? So, what is holding you back from growing outside of the Gustavus bubble and expanding your horizons into a global perspective?