206 to 02 (Seattle to Seoul)

When I was a senior in high school and very nervous about entering UW, I read more “Must-Dos in college and “My 10 Regrets After Graduating from College” articles than you could ever imagine. Obviously, you’ll still survive college without reading these articles, but there are definitely some truths and good tips. One of the most common themes I noticed when reading these was study abroad. Everyone was either talking about their amazing experiences, or lamenting the fact that they’d made it all the way to graduation without leaving their home school. This was such a common theme that I decided if there was one thing to accomplish on these lists, it was this. And now, here I am 3 years later, just done with one program and ready to start another in a few months. After my experiences this past summer, I can wholeheartedly say that those articles were right. Study abroad will change you and help you grow in ways you couldn’t even imagine at the start.

As a student who still lives at home, I haven’t really gotten to experience living on my own yet. I’ve been overnight places and traveled before, but before my study abroad I had never experienced moving out and having to really provide for myself. Yes, having my first time being fully independent occurring in a foreign country could be seen as too big a step, but to me it just looked like a challenge. I knew I was ready, and wanted to be able to prove to myself and everyone else that I could do it, while learning exactly what it meant to be a self-sustaining adult. Not only did I have to attend school like usual, I now had to get myself everywhere I needed to go, feed myself, do laundry, pay bills, and fund the entire program (tuition, housing, and all). Even in just 7 weeks of this, I learned so much. 3 years ago, I was too scared to even make the commute from my house to UW alone, and now I can proudly say I flew across Korea, booked my own hotel, caught a taxi from the airport, and managed to feed and entertain myself for a weekend trip in a city I didn’t know and had never visited before. Entirely alone. In a foreign language I’d only been learning for a year. (The above picture is from that trip.) I never could’ve imagined doing anything like this before, but throwing myself into a new country quickly taught me how to do everything on my own, confidently. Without study abroad, I probably wouldn’t experience this for a while yet, and definitely not in the same way. There’s not better way to build skills than through necessity, and studying abroad is a very rewarding way to do it.

I also learned a lot more about relationships with other people than I’d ever expect. I’ve often heard that the best way to know if you can handle a romantic relationship with someone is to go on a trip with them, but it is often overlooked that friendships are quite similar, and just as important. The last thing on my mind before I left for Seoul was how my relationships with my friends would grow and change, but it ended up being an integral part of my trip. I was lucky to be able to enroll in Yonsei University's International Summer School at the same time as some of my very best friends, and spent the months beforehand counting down the days until we could spend all our time together in a country that we love. And yes, I was indeed able to have some of the best experiences of my life so far, learning and traveling with my friends. However, we also had some not so good parts either. So much is different when you go abroad, and for some people there is a lot more responsibility and freedom involved than when you are living at home. Everyone is forced to grow and adapt, and like in the example of traveling to know if you’re compatible with someone, you may find that your ways of living don’t match well with your friends. This isn’t by nature bad, but the bottom line is people change. You may grow closer with some people, and farther from others, whether they are your childhood friends or those you just met.

Speaking of those you just met, I can easily say that during this program I met many amazing people I would easily now call my friends, and even a few I grew quite close to in just a short amount of time. These people have taught me so much, both about Korea and about everywhere else. International summer programs are amazing in that they allow you to meet people from all over, something I had never been able to do as easily here. Suddenly I was meeting people from a new country every day, and hearing about how their lives were so different from my own was very interesting. I wouldn’t give this experience up for anything, and would easily say it is one of the top things about studying abroad. You never know who you’ll meet, and what amazing experiences you’ll be able to share.

So, if you’ve made it to the end of this, I hope you can learn from my experiences, and apply them to your own. If you skipped to the end, then let me just say one thing: please consider studying abroad if you are able. To the younger students, don’t hesitate to start working some time into your academic plan, even if you have no idea yet where to go or what to do. And to the older students like me, it isn’t too late. Go abroad, have fun, meet people, and make memories you’ll never forget. And oh yeah…don’t forget to study!

#YonseiInternationalSummerSchool #Seoul