My study abroad opportunity was not only my first study abroad, but also my first time ever leaving the United States. I had so many questions about what to bring and what to prepare for, but it is very easy to remember what the best piece of advice I received was. When traveling through time zones on a plane, it is likely for one to experience jet lag as your normal operating times are different and you probably did not sleep on the plane. I am someone who operates under a strict routine and absolutely cannot fall asleep on a plane for any significant amount of time. Because of this, I was afraid that I would be very susceptible to jet lag and that it would hinder my trip. The flight over to London was about eight hours through the middle of the night and I did not get any sleep. When we landed, I was exhausted and the only thing I wanted to do was to go to my bed and sleep. My professor strongly advised that all of us needed to fight the urge to sleep until nighttime for the United Kingdom to fight the jet lag. I initially viewed this as an impossible task as I was struggling to even keep my eyes open as he was telling us this, but this ended up allowing me to enjoy the rest of my trip to the absolute fullest. I spent the rest of the day doing whatever tasks I could to keep myself awake like going to the local mall, calling family back home, and eating dinner with fellow classmates. I went to sleep at 9:00 PM and slept for eleven hours. I woke up perfectly refreshed and did not experience jet lag for the rest of the entire trip. Overall, I recommend following this vital piece of advice regardless of how difficult it my seem. Pictured is me and classmates at the opening dinner fighting sleep together.
