Anna Grace Smith
I have successfully studied abroad for three weeks in Italy this past Summer! After being home for the past six days, I wanted to discuss possible challenges one might face when adjusting to things after an extended period away from home. For me, jet lag was not as bad as I anticipated, but I still noticed unusual dips in my energy levels throughout the day, along with difficulty getting up in the mornings. My best piece of advice is to sleep on the plane as much as you can! I believe that this helped me become adjusted immediately after I landed.
The shock of returning to your normal routine after being abroad can be difficult, so remember to give yourself grace if there are things you lack motivation to do. I purposefully allocated three full days into my schedule to readjust before returning to my job as a Physical Therapy Technician, and every minute was extremely valuable. For most courses you take abroad, there will be some work due following your time in your chosen country, so remember to stay on top of that as well!
During my return home, I had a fifteen-hour layover in the Denmark airport. I would not recommend everyone to do the same, but it did help me save money on plane tickets. I made sure to utilize this time wisely by writing essays and working on graduate school applications. Overall, I do not regret having a long layover, and the time flew by once I kept myself busy.
An important thing to remember if your layover is in a different country, is that the outlets will be different than the country you traveled from. This is something small, but it could cause unnecessary stress to a hectic travel day, so remember to pack accordingly. Overall, studying abroad was one of the best parts of my college experience thus far, and the relationships I have gained through attending UA in Italy: Following Shakespeare across Europe, are ones that I will remember forever. I am so grateful for my opportunity abroad, and I will motivate everyone around me to apply for future experiences as well.