Life Changing Experience

When I look back on my experience studying abroad, I like to think of all the life lessons I learned, the friendships I made and the valuable classes I enrolled in. Without a doubt, learning abroad through CEA CAPA has taught me to step outside my comfort zone, to be confident in who I am, and to take advantage of every opportunity. There are countless things that I have taken away from my time abroad that will most certainly be used in my daily life.
As for the friendships I have made, I was pleasantly surprised how well random roommates would work out for me. Committing to study abroad with no one I knew from my hometown nor my university took a big leap of faith, but it’s something I’m so thankful I did. I went into this knowing I would be meeting so many new faces, but did not expect my roommates to become lifelong friends. Messaging each other through the roommate portal was our first interaction. Before we knew it, we made it to Italy and we were planning our future trips together. With that said, meeting unfamiliar faces is something I would highly recommend. After all, you only get so many chances to study abroad. My roommates, who are now my friends, have played a significant role in my experience studying abroad. The friends that you will make while you’re abroad will be the people that you travel to other countries with. They’ll be the people you explore the history of your city with. The ones you try new food with, and influence you to buy all the leather you don’t need with. You will bond over silly things like missing a train or two, creating an oil painting and not being able to tell what it is, and embarrassing yourself while trying to do karaoke at Red Garter. While they’ve only been in my life for a short period of time, they are still part of a chapter in my life and college career.