While I did enjoy this past semester, with all the experiences, travel, and people met along the way, I would most likely not study abroad again. As someone who didn't even apply for any colleges outside of Hawaii, spending 4 months away from my family and friends took an emotional toll on me that I don't want to go through again. If I was more experienced being away from home, I wouldn't have had this issue and would've enjoyed study abroad more, but I wasn't able to adjust during the 4 months.
With all that being said, I would definitely recommend study abroad to other students. Even if you're not able to get over being homesick, it will teach you independence and further your appreciation of your hometown. If you're someone who's able to be away from home for an extended period of time, I'd recommend it even more so. Throughout my time, I've compiled a list of tips that I find most useful:
As it's not only finals week, but my last week here as well, I want to share what I've experienced the past 4 months. I'll start by saying that while I've enjoyed my time here, I'm very much looking forward to be home again to see my family and friends. That being said, being homesick was the most difficult part about being here. I've never been away from my family for more than a couple weeks, and when I wasn't with my family I had my friends, so not having either for an extended amount of time took an emotional toll on me. This has helped me grow, as I experienced what it was like to be independent, for better and for worse.
I don't feel as I made any mistakes culturally here. Given that I'm the foreigner here, I made sure to follow what everyone else did to make sure I didn't cause any trouble or inconveniences. The most eye opening moments for me was just learning the history, not only about Italy but Europe as well. Having only been to school in Hawaii, much of the history I've learned is centered around Hawaii and Asia, so to learn about the architecture, art, and history of the European Union was astonishing. |
AuthorThank you for visiting my blog. The purpose of this blog is to document my time while studying abroad in Italy. Archives
December 2019
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