Wow. It is hard to believe that I only have two weeks left of the semester. These past few months have been truly transformative and unforgettable. As the first in my family to attend college and study abroad, I am really grateful for this opportunity.

I knew going abroad would be a challenge, but I did not realize how much it would lead to self-discovery and growth. When I got here, I spent a lot of time feeling homesick. I missed my roommates, family, and dogs tremendously. I am a very routine person, and tend to eat the same foods and go to the gym at the same time everyday.

However, being abroad made this a challenge. The grocery stores in London don’t necessarily have the same foods that I would eat at home (Missing Chobani Flips right now!). Often, I wanted to explore new neighborhoods and say yes to any plans I was invited to. This made it hard to have the same routine every single day. But, doing so helped me get out of my comfort zone and learn to balance different aspects of my social and educational life. Although I may not have been able to go to the gym eevryday, I got to hang out with new friends and explore places that I will not get to see back in the United States. I learned to enjoy flexibility and take everyday as a new task.

This also helped me increase my trust in myself. Despite being less strict with my daily routine, I still succeeded in my courses by getting good grades, meeting new peers, and learning from my professors. The teaching style here emphasized less assignments that were worth higher percentages of our final grades. This made me anxious at first, but I realized that it gave me the opportunity to be creative and put full effort into my projects. Reaching out to my professors and taking the time to do proper research on the topics I was writing about helped me succeed.

Lastly, I learned a lot about personal finance. As a student in the College of Business Adminsitration, I have taken a few courses related to Accounting and Finance. But, budgeting my own bank account was a lot different than learning about checks and balances on balance sheets. Creating a budget helped me maximize the activities I did abroad, such as going to try new foods and explore other countries, without going into debt. This was challenging, but I feel so proud that I was able to support myself abroad.

I will truly miss this trip and never forget the lessons I learned and friends I made. I am excited to go home and apply what I learned to my life, and hope to come back again soon!