Obstacles Overcome, Lessons Learned, Now What? Lancaster, England

By far the greatest challenge I've had with my study abroad experience is coming to terms with the fact that this is both the longest and the farthest from home that I have ever been. This was something I was anticipating when looking into studying abroad, and it has proven a great challenge. My time here in Lancaster is about halfway through and I've already learned so much! This only means that there are more lessons and experiences to come that will flesh out my study abroad experience. I am beyond thrilled with this prospect.

In being so far from home for so long, I've found that I have developed my identity in ways that I feel make me much more self reliant and independent. While these were both characteristics I found myself striving for before in life, they have become fully realized through this experience. There has been so much that I have accomplished on my own two feet. Intellectually stimulated by my schoolwork and social experiences here, I've found that I am more than capable of anything if I put my mind to it. This I know will help me immensely when looking for a job after college. With how comfortable and proud of who I've become through this experience, I feel that I now have so much to more to offer than I did before with job prospects that I will begin looking for in the near future. I really feel that I have done all that I could do with what life has had to offer me as a student up to this point, and am actually quite eager to start work. Of course with one more year of college left, I have just a little more time. I'm eagerly anticipating my return and finishing my senior year and finishing college in full gear. I really feel that I have proven myself with all I have accomplished in this experience, and that the next challenge is living on my own and supporting myself.

With being away from home for so long, I have found that my interest in America has undergone a new awakening. With seeing so much of Europe in all of my travels, I have become glaringly aware of how much I have yet to see of my own country. Europe seems so big and far away when living in America, but after being here for so long, I've come to realize that this is in fact true the other way around! America is huge compared to the United Kingdon, and much of Europe as well! Europe is so diverse from place to place, but this only seems so because of the many different countries making up the continent. America is just as diverse, even though it is all under one name. I've never been to the west coast or even down south. Travelling Europe on my spring break, which has been just amazing, has only made me want to see and experience America even more, especially considering the fact that I have seen so little. We are a great country, and my appreciation has only grown from being away from it for so long.

Perhaps the last aspect of coming to terms with being away from home for so long and the effect that challenge has had on me thus far is wondering what life will be like when I come home. While I am looking forward to coming home, I will forever carry everything I have undergone here. It really has been amazing and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have done this. I am reminded of my choice in college with Allegheny and how that has helped me come here. I am always going to connect this time with my schooling and the immensity in which I gained in many areas of life, namely education. I believe that when I look back on this time, it will be filled with thoughts of pride in that I made it back the way I did. I had very high hopes with my intentions to study abroad, and had many goals I hoped to achieve. They have been realized thus far and more. Looking back to when I started, I was indeed scared. It was difficult picking up my life and putting  it in a new setting while continuing the momentum I had been building since starting at Allegheny. Now, I really can't believe that I defeated those fears and am where I am with who I've become.

I've learned and grown so much. That much has been realized, and I know that I am doing something right. It's a nice feeling, and one I hope to continue with the rest of my adventures I know are yet to come in life.