One Girl and a Big World

Welcome back everyone!

School has started back up again and I also started a new job so life has been a little different as of late, but here is a new blog post!

I wanted to write about some of the benefits from studying abroad. Although my four year plan was cut short, I still completed one year abroad and returned to the States a different person. Living in Dublin and traveling on my own taught me so much about myself and life. Here are some of the benefits from studying abroad:

1. – Improved Confidence

When I was dropped off by my parents in Dublin, it definitely felt like I had a huge mountain ahead of me. The college had messed up my enrollment and placed me in the wrong classes, my accommodations were messed up as well since the building completion date was delayed, and I was going to have to figure out how to manage my immigration and Irish bank accounts. It was a lot all at once and to say that I was not overwhelmed or panicked is a major lie. But slowly, I tackled each bit one by one. First, I moved into my accommodations with the help of a pastor and his wife in Dublin, then after two weeks of countless emails, my German professors stepped in big time and got the Academic Registry and Enrollment offices to fix my situation, then I managed to do all of my immigration on my own! After successfully accomplishing all these tasks while still having schoolwork, I was pretty proud of myself. Then, in my second semester, I had to deal with a stolen computer, and the possibility of a stolen bank account all while school was in session. After dealingI know that I came back from Dublin more confident in myself.

2. Walking Benefits

Now, I’ll begin by saying that I am already an athlete so I was by no means unhealthy or unfit. However, being my stubborn self, I refused to take the buses around the city because… I don’t even know, I just didn’t want to take them. So I walked EVERYWHERE. I would walk a minimum of one hour every day for school, groceries, and church. Roughly, I walked 500 miles the six months I was gone. I am a swimmer, so I was not used to walking very often. As such, my leg muscles definitely got more toned after all that walking and I did lose some weight, but not too much because I did gain muscle mass. Walking became something that was very therapeutic to me and if I ever needed to clear my head, I would chose a restaurant I wanted to eat at, and walk to it. I also came back a fast walker. A best friend of mine complained that I was walking too fast one time LOL.

3. New Experiences

Obviously, living in a different country will bring about so many new experiences. Not all were good, but meeting new people, getting to travel to wherever I wanted, having my own travel schedule, my own school schedule, exploring Dublin (without GPS for extra fun), and walking into as many bookshops as I could find are definitely fun memories and experiences.

4. Different Education Style

I did enjoy having a different education style while at school. The Trinity College style of higher education is very unique, even in Europe. It was a nice change to what I had previously experienced and I definitely enjoyed several aspects of their education style like no textbooks, a lot of reading from primary and secondary sources, and more small group teachings.

5. Maturity

When you live on your own away from everything familiar, it definitely forces you to grow up. This growing up, however, is much more unique as you are having to figure everything out all over again (culture, transportation, education, etc). There is much more flexibility in this growing up and it lets you figure out how things work best for you.

These are just a few things that I benefited from during study abroad! I am sure there are plenty more, but it’s getting late in my little Virginia town and my brain is beginning to shut down for the night 😉

Thank you for reading! Be sure to share, like, or follow for new updates on blogs. Blessings!

Sofia