Study Abroad: A Better Freshman Year
Another Round of Intrigue, Drama, and Memories
By Hana Handzija with art by Sana Ikramuddin
“You’ll get homesick, so make sure to stay in touch with all of your friends and family!”
“Carry around a copy of your passport in case it gets stolen or lost!”
“Pack light, you can buy everything you need there!”
These are all very common things I heard from people when they found out I was studying abroad. Though they are probably very helpful and hold some truth, none of them told me what the reality of studying abroad would really be: freshman year part two.
As someone who experienced freshman year of college through the lens of a pandemmy, my freshman year was not really comparable to a normal freshman year. It was isolating, anxiety-inducing, and extremely depressing. The reality was a lot less fun than the fun, social, and random time that I expected it to be. It was not at all like what the world told me to expect.
Studying abroad, however, was exactly how I pictured freshman year to be, just in a completely different setting at a completely different time in my life. Meeting new people, having new adventures, and going so far outside your comfort zone that you develop an even-broader sense of what you can handle were all things I believed to be synonymous with freshman year in a positive way. All the wonderful things that come with being uncomfortable in a new environment but with a little more maturity to appreciate it.
Moral of the story, to my future study abroad-ers: appreciate the people you meet when you start this new adventure. It might feel redundant and frustrating being thrust into a brand-new throng of people after spending five semesters solidifying and working on friendships you only just made, but only these new friends can understand the feeling of being honked at by Vespas and scolded Italian women because your bag broke on the way home from the grocery store, and that is priceless.