what I learned from my semester abroad

I recently got home from my three-month study abroad semester in Switzerland, and I’ve been asked by friends and family upon returning:

“How was the trip?”

Our professor once told us we’d have thirty seconds of their attention before they stopped really caring, so make your response worth it.

So obviously I answered with:

“Amazing!”

Or this one:

“Soooo awesome.”

Yeah, I know, not great. But how do I accurately describe a semester that genuinely changed my life without saying “oh yeah, it changed my life.”

So that’s the question I’ve been asking myself the last two weeks, and I figured the only way I know how to describe how I’m feeling is with a good old blog post.

I assume if I haven’t lost half my readers already, statistically I’ll probably lose you in the next thirty seconds, so just give me that.

Studying abroad is less about school work and tests, and more about discussion, connection, and growth.

Like most things in life, you get out of it what you put in.

For me, there was the big stuff, like skydiving in the Swiss Alps and seeing an elephant in the wild on an African safari.

But there was also the small stuff, like the intense games of Uno and the conversations made with strangers on train rides.

What I learned was that the small stuff left the biggest impact on me.

If you care to read on, I promise I’ll make it worth it.

Because, sure, I had a pretty unique experience, but the lessons I’ve carried home are universal.

the “why”

Why study abroad? Why leave my incredible college town for an entire three months?

When I was visiting Virginia Tech, before even committing to the school, I heard about this special program, Lugano Linking Lives.

I learned that for an entire semester, I could travel the world and gain school credit, all while doing it alongside Hokies.

I knew back in high school I wanted to study abroad, but I don’t think even that girl knew how important it would become.

Global learning became important for several reasons.

• 1. I am now a public transportation Wizard.

I’m so serious about this one.

• 2. I learned to be more adaptable.
• 3. I can order in a coffee shop and (pretty much) get through the whole thing in Italian…which is kinda cool!
• 4. I learned to be more independent, but know I can still depend on those around me.
• 5. Most importantly, I learned to enjoy the ride.

This one means a lot.

Because like I mentioned, I’m a Type-A control freak.

But along the way somewhere, I stopped caring if we were late to a restaurant reservation, or if we were too loud in the Airbnb. At some point, I even stopped caring where we traveled.

Because it wasn’t about where we were going, or how long it took to get there, or if we were late, or if we made a mess.

It was about every little moment we lived, good or bad.

Because we were together, enjoying the ride.

Which brings me to the next part.

the “who”

When choosing a study abroad program, the first questions that came to mind were: where is it, and what will I be studying?

I didn’t really question who I would be with. I just hoped I would have some cool people to travel with.

Well, I’ll tell ya I got more than just cool people to travel with.

Going into the semester, I had a few people that I knew pretty well. Then there were some people I had quick “oh my gosh, we’re going abroad together” conversations with at the bars. Then there were people I’d genuinely never met before… and we’d been at the same school for three years.

For example, meet Lizzy Determan.

It’s the first week of our program, and all 92 of us head to Interlaken, Switzerland.

Weeks before, I had been told by my friend Gianna that we were skydiving. Not a question by the way, just a statement.

The time had finally come, and I met Lizzy, the first person I could really say I didn’t know existed before coming to Lugano.

When the instructor asked our group who wanted to go first, I raised my hand almost immediately. When I turned around I saw who else had…

Lizzy!

We’d be jumping out of a helicopter and we just met.

Awesome first hangout if you ask me.

So we did just that. Jumped out of that helicopter and landed. Then we screamed and ran and hugged each other so tight like we just escaped death.

I bet those instructors thought we’d been friends for years.

And that’s what it felt like to me.

I used to beat myself up about not meeting her sooner, but now I know it doesn’t matter how long you’ve been friends, just about how you make use of the time you have now.

The lesson I learned here is that it is never too late to meet a lifelong friend.

Over the next few weeks, I started to get to know a lot of people a lot better. I guess that’s a given when you eat together, live together, go to class together, and then spend all your free time together.

I remember the first time I truly realized how different these friends were. Our first ten-day break. London and Dublin.

Before this semester, there were few people in my life who I could be around for long periods of time without my social battery draining.

The turning point on this trip was realizing these were people who charged my social battery.

And the best part?

The group kept growing, and so did the love.

Over the next two months we did just about everything together.

I thought the era of FOMO was in the past for me.

Nope. I definitely feared missing out if they were involved.

Picking out train ride snacks and walks home from the bars didn’t mean anything unless they were there.

Those simple mundane things turned into laughing until my ribs hurt and memories that would last a lifetime.

I guess what I’m trying to say is this:

This semester taught me you could be in the middle of no where, with crap weather and nothing to do, but with the right people, it would still be the best weekend of your life.

So if you’re still wondering why study abroad changed my life.

It didn’t.

These people did.

the “what now”

Before this experience, I heard the rumors.

“You’ll never get over study abroad.”

“You’re going to be insufferable to everyone back home.”

“Best semester of your life and you never get to do it again.”

Well shit.

If you’ve ever read a blog post of mine, you’ll know I’ve come a long way with my horrible tendency to live in the past and overthink the future, instead of just being in the present.

I was a little worried for my study abroad semester because I knew I’d be making memories that would last a lifetime.

I’m seeing all of these amazing places and landmarks, meeting new people and trying new things.

How do I not sit here in my childhood bedroom and reminisce forever?

I guess that’s what this blog post is for. To show myself it was never about how many countries I can see or landmarks I can visit.

We now have the privilege of going back to the place that encouraged us all to go abroad to begin with. Virginia Tech. And we still get to be friends! The only thing that changes is where we are.

And that never really mattered anyway.

So here’s one big thank you to everyone in the Lugano Spring 2025 program.

I’ll always miss our gas station walks and Coyote Tuesday nights, but how lucky are we that now we get to go home and have Drillfield walks and Tots Tuesday nights with 91 new friends.

The fun is not over yet.

Cheers to senior year, Hokies.