When I was getting ready to leave the US for Colombia, I felt nervous about a lot of different things and for a moment, I questioned my decision to come. Five weeks later, I feel the complete opposite. Choosing to study abroad has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made and the worries I had were just fear. I feel that I’m living in a home away from home. I love the host family I live with, their dogs, and all the people I’ve met here. The experience has defied all my expectations.
I’m grateful I didn’t let those small feelings of fear stop me. If you’re considering studying abroad, but you have worries about if it will be good or not, don’t listen to them. The only way to find out if the thing you’re worried about is a good decision or not is to just do it. Sometimes fear and worry are there for a reason, but when you’re about to leave your comfort zone and that’s when they start coming up is when you shouldn’t listen to them.
Moving past your comfort zone is the biggest way to grow. When you move to a different country for an extended period of time, you’ll grow in ways that you never expected. I have many homes away from home and Alabama is one of them, but finding one that is out of my home country makes the world seem smaller and bigger all at the same time.