The Unexpected

During the summer of my sophomore year at Carolina, I decided to study abroad. I chose a program at Lorenzo de' Medici Italian International Institute in Florence, Italy, applied on a whim and hoped for the best. When I received an email notification of my acceptance, I was overcome with excitement…but mostly fear.

Exploring another country and learning about other cultures has been something I’ve wanted to do for years. Reality began to set in, however, as the humidity of the North Carolina summer and my departure date drew nearer.

This trip was my first time traveling internationally. I was traveling alone, and I didn’t know a single person attending the same program.

I told myself from the start that this is how I wanted it to be. I wanted to not only step, but leap outside of my comfort zone. Despite how nervous I was, I did just that.

As my parents dropped me off at the airport, I felt the uncontrollable sensation of tears welling up in my eyes, mostly caused by the fear of the unknown. At the time, I didn’t even feel confident navigating an airport by myself, let alone another country with a language barrier. Might I add, I’m not the most extroverted person and I am very directionally challenged.

It was a redeye flight, but the extreme angst kept me awake for the entire duration. I arrived a day early in Florence and stayed at a cute hostel in the outskirts of the city. The next day, I had to walk a mile to Lorenzo de’ Medici for orientation. With Google Maps pulled up on my phone, I made the trek in heat like I had never experienced while lugging my multiple overflowing suitcases on the cobblestone sidewalks. I knew in this moment why I was instructed several times to pack lightly.

At orientation, I met my roommates for the summer and learned that they all previously knew each other, which made me the odd one out and even more nervous. They all ended up being extremely welcoming and we took several trips together throughout the summer.

I took two courses, elementary Italian and Principles of Marketing. While the classes weren’t as easy as I expected, I met two amazing friends from other universities in the United States, and we quickly became a trio. We were fortunate to travel to various cities in Italy, Interlaken, Switzerland, Split, Croatia and Barcelona, Spain together.

This experience not only taught me the ins and outs of traveling and Europe, but I also learned a great deal about other cultures and myself. I not only survived, but I enjoyed every second of my experience abroad. I doubted myself, and I’m still slightly shocked I took such a leap of faith, but it has taught me the true meaning of understanding and appreciating others regardless of our differences and the extreme value of true independence.

I have since had the opportunity to study abroad in China this past summer through the UNC School of Media and Journalism’s Global Immersion Program. We traveled to Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, and I was fortunate to meet another one of my best friends on this trip.

Everyone loves to travel, but some people don’t have the opportunity or means to. Thanks to these experiences, I am hopeful that everyone gets the opportunity to travel internationally at some point in their lives, as it has helped me in understanding various cultural practices and norms worldwide.

As Maya Angelou once said, “Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”

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