Part 1:
Wow.. another year finished. Honestly, I didn't think my sophomore year would be nearly as exciting as my freshman year but boy was I wrong. This year I experienced something that single-handedly impacted my life more than any other event to this day: studying for a semester in another country! I have always been a homebody (another reason I chose to stay in Cincinnati for school) so taking the leap to study in Ireland without knowing a single person there was going to be quite the challenge. But, I overcame it! I knew it would be hard to leave my family for 5.5 months and move to Europe but I am SO, SO glad I did because I truly had the time of my life. I have always been pretty mature (perk of being homeschooled for 6 years) but moving abroad on my own made me grow up in ways I never would have staying in Cincinnati. I learned so much about myself through this experience and even with the hardships like crying in the middle of a Luxembourg train station because I didn't know which train to get on I would never change a single thing from that semester. In Ireland and Europe, I met so many wonderful people and gained so much experience that I came back to America as a new and more mature person.
The relationships I made with students while I was abroad really helped shape me & truly were the reasons why this semester was so incredible. When you study abroad, you meet so many like-minded people who love to travel and that really helps make your experience so unique. Without this experience, I would not have become so close to a dear friend from Spain (who I plan on visiting next year!) nor would I have met so many people from around the U.S. I know that I will always have a place to stay with my new friends and that our memories will last for a lifetime. I will always be eternally grateful for the events and challenges that came my way during my semester and I know that I have grown in so many ways that will help me in the future.
Part 2:
My advice to myself this year as I prepare for my junior year would be to slow down. These days we aren't given much time to really enjoy life and reflect on all we have accomplished but studying abroad really taught me that time flies by so fast and if you don't take time to live in the moment and reflect on your experiences it goes by before you blink. Two years of university have already flown by which is why during my halfway point I feel like this is really important advice to give myself. Looking back on this past year, I have really grown and changed in ways that I never saw possible. I know who I am now and as cliche as this sounds I really found myself during my semester abroad and although my thoughts haven't changed too drastically for what I want to do after school I am now considering becoming a professor following grad school instead of continuing on to law school. From here, I plan on furthering my academic career (if I could go to school forever I honestly would) after my undergrad and hopefully one day teaching young college students like myself. My goal for this upcoming year is to take on more events as an honors ambassador. I absolutely love my position as an honors ambassador and being away for a semester made me want to become more involved in that aspect of UC!
Wow.. another year finished. Honestly, I didn't think my sophomore year would be nearly as exciting as my freshman year but boy was I wrong. This year I experienced something that single-handedly impacted my life more than any other event to this day: studying for a semester in another country! I have always been a homebody (another reason I chose to stay in Cincinnati for school) so taking the leap to study in Ireland without knowing a single person there was going to be quite the challenge. But, I overcame it! I knew it would be hard to leave my family for 5.5 months and move to Europe but I am SO, SO glad I did because I truly had the time of my life. I have always been pretty mature (perk of being homeschooled for 6 years) but moving abroad on my own made me grow up in ways I never would have staying in Cincinnati. I learned so much about myself through this experience and even with the hardships like crying in the middle of a Luxembourg train station because I didn't know which train to get on I would never change a single thing from that semester. In Ireland and Europe, I met so many wonderful people and gained so much experience that I came back to America as a new and more mature person.
The relationships I made with students while I was abroad really helped shape me & truly were the reasons why this semester was so incredible. When you study abroad, you meet so many like-minded people who love to travel and that really helps make your experience so unique. Without this experience, I would not have become so close to a dear friend from Spain (who I plan on visiting next year!) nor would I have met so many people from around the U.S. I know that I will always have a place to stay with my new friends and that our memories will last for a lifetime. I will always be eternally grateful for the events and challenges that came my way during my semester and I know that I have grown in so many ways that will help me in the future.
Part 2:
My advice to myself this year as I prepare for my junior year would be to slow down. These days we aren't given much time to really enjoy life and reflect on all we have accomplished but studying abroad really taught me that time flies by so fast and if you don't take time to live in the moment and reflect on your experiences it goes by before you blink. Two years of university have already flown by which is why during my halfway point I feel like this is really important advice to give myself. Looking back on this past year, I have really grown and changed in ways that I never saw possible. I know who I am now and as cliche as this sounds I really found myself during my semester abroad and although my thoughts haven't changed too drastically for what I want to do after school I am now considering becoming a professor following grad school instead of continuing on to law school. From here, I plan on furthering my academic career (if I could go to school forever I honestly would) after my undergrad and hopefully one day teaching young college students like myself. My goal for this upcoming year is to take on more events as an honors ambassador. I absolutely love my position as an honors ambassador and being away for a semester made me want to become more involved in that aspect of UC!