My trip abroad was something that I know I will never truly forget. The entire time I was in Germany I was in awe at just how much I was able to learn from the world just by being in an unfamiliar country.

For the five weeks of my trip, four of them were spent in intensive German language courses. For more than twenty hours a week we were in a classroom learning German vocab and grammar. That alone took a lot of getting used to. Any time that I wasn’t in class, I tried to learn as much as I could about Munich’s art, culture, architecture, language, and food. The food was so good, I think I’ll be craving it until I’m fifty.

My time abroad really taught me about how valuable it is to be open-minded in every meaning of the word. I knew going into this trip that I can sometimes struggle with not feeling in control; I often feel like I need to have everything planned. In a foreign country, that just wasn’t always possible, so I quickly became adjusting to being more spontaneous and flexible. When I was abroad, I learned so much about perspective. In my culture class through Pitt, we analysed German and American politics from a international point-of-view and it made me realise just how much I can learn from stepping out of the box. Academically, I think that will do me good. Creativity in one’s mindset and perspective can be the difference between the answer someone expects and the answer that breaks ground.

So in combination of all that, my trip abroad was so incredibly enlightening. It made me view my life in the US in a whole new way, and I made me excited about any future travel I could enjoy. This experience is something I am whole heartedly grateful for, and all the memories I made will be stories my family hears at the next fifty family reunions.

I thank you for reading!

– Jill Reeve