Leave comfort zone, be proactive in order to get most out of time overseas
If you’re considering studying abroad during your time at USC, I’m here to emphatically say, “Do it!” We’ve all heard the benefits of SA from either an information fair or University 101, but no amount of reading or listening to people talk about SA can live up to actually experiencing what it is like to live abroad.
With that said, I’m going to break down the one piece of advice about SA that no one broke down for me.
“You get out of study abroad what you put in.” I heard that phrase over and over again before leaving, but I never fully understood what it meant. After two and a half months of living in Salamanca, Spain, I think I’ve figured it out.
It means don’t go to the same place as your friends. Make new ones and get way too attached to them. Visit your other friend in another city and have him or her visit you too. Show each other around your favorite place.
It means go somewhere that sparks your interest whether or not you speak the language. There’s no better way to learn than to be immersed, and in reality, the language we learn in class is different than what is actually spoken on the streets.
It means use the resources you have to get involved in the community. Set up a language exchange as soon as you get settled or volunteer to help teach English — you’ll get to see your language from the outsiders’ perspective, and you’ll recognize that they’re just as terrified of making mistakes as you are.
It means stay out too late on a school night and go to class the next morning in sunglasses and the same clothes you went out in. You might not remember the lesson, but you’ll remember how much fun you had, and sometimes that’s more important than learning how to conjugate irregular verbs.
It means take a train to a city you’ve never been to with people you just met. Don’t make plans ahead of time — just go and see where it takes you. You might end up in a rundown hostel, but hiking up that castle you went to on a whim may change your life.
Mostly it means let your new city become home. Get into a routine, but never get jaded by your surroundings. Go to the same café to do your homework and strike up a conversation with the bartender every time.
Slowly this once unfamiliar place will transform into a city you love, somewhere you will call home. You’ll miss it when you leave for the weekend, and you’ll come back only to fall more in love with it.
Halfway through your time abroad, you’ll count down the remaining days only to be struck with unbearable sadness that you have to leave. Embrace this. It’s part of the experience.
So when you study abroad, remember that you get out of it what you put in, and I recommend putting your whole heart into it.