When I first discovered that Temple offered an Exchange Program to England, I obsessively searched for as much information as I could on the University of East Anglia, the town of Norwich, and more generally what life was like to live in England. This was all before I even knew whether or not I was accepted to Temple (I am a dual admissions student from Community College of Philadelphia– woot woot!), so you can imagine the anticipation leading up to the official submission of my application for the program. Happy to have myself officially considered upon submission of my application, I waited eagerly for a response.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that, only a week later, I received my acceptance email from the Study Abroad office. I was excited, of course; the moment I had hoped for for months had finally come. I immediately accepted the offer, and so my dreams were on their way to becoming a reality.
Despite my excitement, however, there remains still the undeniable bittersweet feeling of getting ready to embark on a trip an ocean away from my family and friends. Less than a week away from departure and I still become emotional with every step I take towards preparing to leave the only life I’ve known behind for this extended period of time. This will be my first trip away from home for an extended period of time, as well as my first trip outside of the country.
Coping with these emotions becomes easier as departure draws near. Much of this has to do with the fact that I have amazingly supportive family and friends backing my decision. At the same time, it’s my changing attitude towards the idea of traveling alone. This term abroad is literally a dream come true. To travel to England, Land of the Brontë’s, Home of the Beatles… this journey is a personal sacred pilgrimage and only existed in my imagination up until the acceptance of this opportunity. Nothing in life though, not even the experiences our dreams are made of, are without obstacles. I’ve accepted that getting over the obstacles that will come with this monumental journey of mine are the reality of fulfilling my dream, and this makes me as excited as I was when I first discovered the program.
There is a lot of excitement that surrounds the term “study abroad.” I see the sparkle in my older friends’ eyes when I tell them what I’m doing this semester. It’s almost always followed with the expression of regret that they never did it themselves. In this respect I am extremely grateful to have this opportunity.
Do I expect to have my life completely changed though? Certainly not. This is an attitude towards studying abroad that I haven’t latched onto. Not all students get the chance to leave their home country to study, and that doesn’t make their college experiences any less potentially life changing. One could go abroad and sit in their dorm the entire time, not experiencing the new world they’re in. What I do expect for myself is that I’ll take advantage of this rare opportunity to experience, hands-on, a country whose art and landscape I have admired for as long as I can remember. This semester will be the ultimate challenge to myself to push my boundaries, come outside of my comfort zone, and experience the world independently.