One of the best opportunities you will have in college is a chance to study abroad. Around 1,500 students at Miami go abroad every year, and this past summer, I was lucky enough to be one of them. But this isn't about the time I had; this is about the time you could have. It's not just a chance to pack up a bunch of your belongings and live in a new place. It's the entire experience, the people, the place, and even the work.
Studying abroad means you will have to overcome any fears of being an outsider. Wherever you end up, no matter how many other students you are with, you will eventually realize that you are in fact, alone, in an unfamiliar land, filled with unfamiliar people. You may speak their language, you may even know some of their culture, but in the end you are a stranger to them. It's the value of that experience, of finding yourself lost but at the same time exactly where you chose to be; that can be one of the most educational parts of the entire trip, no matter what classes you end up taking.
The experience of being in an unfamiliar place is amazing, but the lessons you bring back home are what count the most. For some it's a chance to discover themselves, for others, maybe totally reinvent themselves. Some may not change at all, but I guarantee they return home with a new found confidence in who they are.
To be completely honest, I still haven't figured out which part of such an experience causes this sort of thing to happen. Whether it's being stuck with a group of new people, or living in a new environment, maybe just the illusory fantasy that being in another country provides; they seem to blur together in a barrage of unforgettable weeks. Time seems to accelerate, you find yourself packing your things for the trip home, and you'll wonder where your entire trip went. It's a strange paradox; the most memorable moments are the ones that seem to pass by in an instant.
Being back home now, there are things I've realized I want to change in my life; things that before my trip I was just afraid to face head on. The world doesn't seem so big once you travel it a bit. People are people, no matter where you go; no matter what culture you visit, or language you speak. Life isn't so overwhelming, because after you return home, you've lived that much more of it.
Perhaps that some of what I've said may seem a little grandiose for a study abroad. But I know for myself, every word of it is true. It doesn't come simply by packing a bag and catching a plane. You have to throw yourself at every moment you can, and while you might hit the ground (hard), it's the times when you catch an updraft that make the bumps and bruises worth it, and it will always keep you climbing back up to try again.
Being in another country helps to make those first leaps less frightening. And when you finally make it home, you realize the cliffs aren't any higher, and the risks aren't any scarier. So to the 1,499 other Miami students who studied abroad this last year and the thousands who have in previous years, I hope you can try to remember some of the excitement that you might have experienced when you were abroad. I also hope you can bring that excitement back to Miami's campus. For those who haven't had the chance yet to go abroad, please look into doing so, and until you get the chance, try to throw yourself at everything you can. It's a fresh new year ahead of us; let's make it the best we can.
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