By Rosie Lacy (’25)
Returning home after my semester abroad has really allowed me to stop and think about how much I learned during my time away. At first the thought of spending four months in a foreign country was very intimidating. I didn’t know anyone else in my program ahead of time and I wasn’t sure how I would adapt to an environment that was completely unknown to me. However, I’m so glad I took this step out of my comfort zone because it was truly one of the best decisions of my life. I was able to grow so much during those four months. I was able to experience so many different places and I was able to meet people from all over the world. Everyone has different requirements and different levels of flexibility when it comes to planning out your schedules, but I would suggest to everyone who has the ability to study abroad (even for a short period of time) to go for it! Below are some of the reasons why I think everyone should try to study abroad, and a little bit more about my personal experience.
1. Stepping out of your comfort zone builds important life-long skills.
Similar to the increased sense of self-growth and independence that comes with starting college, spending time abroad allows for a lot of similar growth. Any time you do something that pushes you out of your comfort zone there are important lessons and skills to be learned that can last with you throughout your life. For me, studying abroad was a huge step out of my comfort zone. I grew up in MA, so when I started as a freshman at Salve, I obviously gained a lot of independence being away from home, however, I was still in an area that was familiar to me where my hometown and family were only about an hour and a half away. Being in France I had to learn to adapt to a culture that was very different from my own, I had to work on speaking in a foreign language for the majority of my day, and I had to learn how to navigate these things on my own. At first it was definitely a bit difficult to adjust, but I think working through these challenges on my own, so far from home and the life that I had become very comfortable in was very important to allow me to grow. I think this experience definitely helped me to become more flexible, independent, adaptable, and curious, and definitely helped me to significantly build upon my problem solving skills. I was able to learn a lot about myself and how I react in certain situations that I would not typically find myself in at home, or at Salve. I think studying abroad and spending time far away from what is comfortable to you is so beneficial in helping you discover the things that are most important to you, and the parts of yourself that you value the most or would like to continue to improve.
2. Studying abroad helps you to broaden your worldview.
I had traveled outside of the U.S. before my semester abroad, but I have never spent more than a week in one place. I had also spent most of my time outside of the U.S. in touristy places visiting the typical tourist sites. Living in a foreign city for four months allowed for a completely different experience. Of course, I still visited the tourist attractions in Lyon and was amazed by each and every one, but I also got an experience that felt more “authentic” to a typical french lifestyle. I set the goal for myself to speak mostly (if not completely) in French when I was speaking to locals in shops, restaurants, or on the street. I think speaking the local language was definitely a big plus for me, because it allowed me to better communicate with the locals and learn more about the culture and the language. By the end of the semester, Lyon did truly feel like a home away from home to me. Spending a long period of time in a European country also made it quite easy to travel to a lot of countries and cities that I had never seen before. I was able to visit Italy, England, Germany, Scotland, Switzerland, and Ireland during my time abroad. I was also able to visit many different cities within France. Seeing so many new places, and experiencing so many new cultures continued to open my eyes to how much of the world there is to see. In my time abroad I was able to see so much, but yet it was still only such a small fraction of all there is to see. I think I have definitely become eager to explore the world, and all of the different regions, cultures, and languages within it.
3. Studying abroad will allow you to make international connections.
There are many things that I am so grateful for from my semester abroad, but one of the things I am most grateful for is the connections I have made with people from all over the world. My classes were filled with students from countries spanning the entire world, which was a very unique experience. I was able to learn so much about their home countries through my conversations with them, and was able to form relationships that will hopefully remain strong for years to come. I had very few American friends during my time in France, which I think helped to really push me out of my comfort zone (as I mentioned above). It can be easy to search for familiarity in times where things are so different from what you are used to, but I think having largely international friends allowed me to have a very special experience. Living in France I was able to learn so much about French culture, but through these connections with my classmates I was able to learn about so many other countries across the world as well. My class of about 25 students had people from over 12 different countries. The program as a whole was about 500 students, with nationalities spanning pretty much the entire world. I found it really interesting that people from all over came together in this program in a relatively small private university in Lyon. I was also able to connect with some French students through programs offered by the school. This was very helpful because it allowed me to practice my French with native speakers and allowed me to learn more about France/ French culture from people in my peer group. I was also able to meet up with one of the French students who I had become close with during her time studying abroad at Salve which was really nice. That just goes to show how important connections you make while you are abroad can become as you continue to travel to new parts of the world.
4. Studying abroad helps you to discover a world of new possibilities
To tie the previous points together, I really didn’t realize nor comprehend how much is out there to explore until my semester abroad. As I mentioned previously, I had traveled quite a bit prior to this experience, but I could never really imagine myself living abroad in a foreign country. After 4 months abroad, I can definitely view spending a longer period of time abroad as a very real possibility. This semester really opened my eyes to a realm of new possibilities in terms of my future education, career, and goals and how I can incorporate traveling and a more global perspective into all of those areas of my life. I am looking forward to continuing to explore different parts of the world, and to returning back to Lyon at some point (hopefully) in the near future. You really don’t realize how much is out there until you start exploring, which is why I think everyone should give studying abroad a try!
Rosie Lacy (’25)
Roseanne Lacy is studying Psychology and French at Salve with minors in Neuroscience and Applied Behavior Analysis. She is studying abroad at the Catholic University of Lyon in France to further expand her knowledge of the French language and French culture as a part of our French program here at Salve.
Comments are closed.