Former CNMJ Student from University of Oregon

My last night in Sevilla I wrote in my journal, “I think I learned how to hold my own and be my own person. I think I am going to return a more confident person who can stand up for her own beliefs and not care as much about what people think because I did make it through this challenging experience. My time abroad has given me the confidence to trust in myself, and for that this experience was beyond worth it.” Maybe that’s why they say you should study abroad or live in another country. It is to gain perspective of yourself and learn how to trust yourself. I won’t lie and say that I didn’t really stumble at some points because I missed home, my own culture and my friends, but as I wrote in an earlier in another journal entry, “If you aren’t uncomfortable at least one time a day, you aren’t growing.” Now putting myself out on a line and possibly embarrassing myself seems so much less intimidating because for the past four months every time I spoke in Spanish there was that possibility. I think it’s good that I don’t take myself so seriously now and am okay with making mistakes and making a fool of myself. I spent a lot of time on my own in Sevilla as well, and so now I feel as though I have learned more how to be alone with my thoughts and do things on my own. I now have a new found confidence in knowing that I went to a foreign country without knowing anyone and still made a community of friends.