I had the incredible opportunity to study in Rome this past fall semester, and it was amazing!

I loved everything I experienced abroad and miss the experience dearly already. Even though I am back at home, that does not mean that my trip is entirely in the past. The trip taught me many valuable lessons that I will be carrying with me as I start this new year:

Don’t be afraid to explore

Studying abroad placed me in a completely different and unfamiliar environment. This meant it was up to me to take full advantage of the new opportunities. I pushed myself to explore everywhere I could and to interact with all sorts of fascinating people. Moving forward, I will encourage myself to be more social and interact with new people. This will not only continue to develop my communication and interpersonal skills, but also help expand and grow my network.

Surround yourself with good people

This relates back to the previous idea of networking. I could not have asked for a better group to be studying abroad with than the one I had. Although, I did not have much of a choice in selecting this group, I do have a choice of who I surround myself with back at home. You have to be smart when choosing who to surround yourself with as they will be the ones who encourage and motivate you. Your circle and network are only good if everybody is able to contribute and assist each other.

Be wary of academic validation

While I was abroad, I took an online course, but unfortunately, I was unable to achieve the grade I wanted due to various reasons. While this situation definitely upset me for a long while, I came to realize that the main reason it impacted me so strongly was because of how much I had twisted my sense of self-worth with academic validation. To be clear, I am not saying that grades or work achievements do not matter. what I am saying is that they matter AND that your sense of worth should not be inherently dependent on them. It is important to understand that we are more than our grades or our resume. We need to make sure that our mental health and well-being stand on a solid foundation and that we view approach our self-worth holistically.

You can only do so much

Similar to the previous point, I learned that I can only do so much. While we can be very good at multitasking, we all have our limits. While this may be a humbling realization, at the same time it is an important reminder of our humanity. You can attempt to do everything, but you need to understand that compromises will need to be made and that you cannot possibly give 100% to dozens of different tasks. It is okay to step back and ask for help because you may not have the mental energy or physical time to finish your tasks. If you work yourself to death, you won’t be able to look up and live.

Time is finite- and that is good

Weeks passed quickly during my study abroad and caught my peers and myself of guard more than once. It was scary to think about how fast time was moving! This idea of time being finite is one that all of us know but sometimes fail to understand. Yet I don’t think this idea is necessarily bad or pessimistic. Being able to acknowledge that time is finite allows us to better appreciate the present and bask in each day’s blessings. Additionally, it reminds us that every day is an opportunity that should not be wasted. So apply for that job or tidy up your resume or start research on that project, don’t let your day slip by!

While there is much more that I learned from my time abroad, I hope these lessons resonate with you and that you are also able to take something with you in the new year.

All this to say, when in Rome… continue to grow.