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Study Abroad
In both the fall of 2018 and spring of 2019 I parted ways with Minnesota and studied in Brussels, Belgium and Auckland, New Zealand respectively. Spending my entire school year away from friends and family was difficult, but the experience gave me key differentiating skills that I can now apply to life back home.
View of downtown Auckland, NZ from the top of Mount Eden
Communication
Communicating with restrictive cultural barriers was a challenge.
My experiences abroad taught me to really pay attention to implicit communication such as gestures and facial expressions in order to really decipher what someone was trying to say.
This was especially important during my time in Belgium, which has three national languages: French, Flemish (a Belgian variant of Dutch) and German.
Independence
The most apparent skill I refined while abroad was my independence. I was forced out of my comfort zone, relieved I was surrounded by people in a similar situation, but also eager to maneuver an unfamiliar environment.
Being abroad was truly freeing and offered a great opportunity to learn more about myself and become more comfortable with being on my own.
Adaptability
My experiences have shown me that adaptability is synonymous with progress.
Though both Brussels and Auckland were similar to the United States, moving to any large city can pose challenges to total integration. Mix in stark cultural differences, and you'll get a recipe for potential disaster
I learned that facing these challenges head on and actively desiring to learn more by observing and asking questions will guarantee a better chance at prospering in a new environment.
Facing the cold in Brussels, Belgium