Abroad and Back Again

a guest blog post by Julia

I am a study abroad advisor at a state university and I help prepare students who are planning to study abroad. However, students are generally preparing for their own independent adventure and don’t necessarily want advice about what I think they will feel while abroad and when they
return home.

When I moved to Seville, Spain to study abroad my junior year, I knew I was going to a country where I didn’t speak the language, didn’t know the history, and had no idea what it would look or feel like. I knew I was going to have to be ready for change and adjustment.

Breaking from the norm of my Midwestern Catholic college, I shared a room with a non-religious, vegetarian, feminist from Southern California (who now is one of my very best friends, Notes from the Ombligo editor Rosemari) in the apartment of a Spanish family.

Living and speaking with our “family,” professors, and friends from the US and Spain also made me look at life, politics, education, and language from another perspective. I had moments (and sometimes weeks) of doubt, tiredness, and frustration, along with great successes and feelings of accomplishment. It made me evaluate who I was, where I was willing to flex, and what I could and couldn’t give up.

The bigger shock came when I returned to the US university. Even though my study abroad advisor was drowning me in emails about international opportunities and re-entry workshops, I thought I was fine. Truth be told, I was going through classic readjustment. I wanted to speak Spanish and act like I was still in Spain. I made comparisons constantly. I was starting to despise and separate from the university community at my home school.

How did I handle such a difficult adjustment back to the US? I planned how I could go abroad again, and I stayed involved in an international community in Ohio. This led to another six months in Spain, teaching a year and a half in Mexico, pursuing a MA in Spanish, and choosing a career in international education. I was changed forever by going through the ups and downs that we warn our students about.

I am grateful for those sobbing moments on a rooftop in Mexico, the unsuccessful bus rides into town in Spain, and even the nostalgia for sangria I had when I returned. It has given me confidence. I have now traveled alone to South America for work. I’ve been able to adjust to living in different cultures in my own country - like a small town in Kansas and a community college in the inner city. It has shaped me and has given me the motivation to push myself out of my comfort zone and dare to be a different than the average bear.

This is why I am excited to send students from different backgrounds out into the world. Each person can benefit from living life a different way, seeing the world from a new perspective, and explaining their experience to someone from another culture.