May 09
The Semester After…
Posted in Australia...AUSome! Study Abroad Observations->Philosophical Thoughts Tagged australia, manhattan, New York, semester, subway, travel
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your study abroad.
Like so many college students I find myself at the end of a long semester. As I prepare for finals, I also reflect on how this semester has been different from others. Last semester I was in Melbourne Australia, adjusting not only to a new country but to different educational practices, especially different academic expectations. But these thoughts are not about my semester abroad but rather about the first semester home after being abroad.
Studying abroad has three stage: pre-, during and post-.
While the semester before was riddled with antsy-ness and anticipation for my trip, and the semester abroad with childlike fascination, it’s during my semester back home that I find myself relishing familiarity. I walk around campus with a sense of ownership, remembering the discomfort of being new and unsettled in a foreign university. Even riding the subway, which is a surprise-filled adventure every time you go, carries a type of what I like to call a “present nostalgia.” That feeling you get when you are just fully in the moment and imagining how you’ll look back at this moment in the future.
I’ve had all semester to really process the experiences I had in Australia and rather than feeling them slip away into past memories, I find I am integrating what I learned throughout my journey and affirming those lessons into life back here in Brooklyn.
