While I was walking around Vienna on my last day in Europe, I started to think about my experiences over the last month. I thought about my expectations of the trip and how it was completely different from what I had imagined. I was anticipating a month in Europe full of free time and having fun, with a bit of schoolwork. I was expected a relaxing experience. I couldn’t have been more wrong. We had a total of four days off this entire month, we were expected to be awake and alert every morning around 9am, and taking nine hours in six weeks was definitely not relaxing. However, I think that I can speak for the entire group when I say that we have all grown as people. It has been a difficult month, but I will always look at this trip as a turning point in my life. Before I left, I thought that I knew exactly who I was…but I can definitely say that it is frightening how much I have learned about myself. When we all get home, our families and friends will ask us what our favorite part of the trip was. Professor MacDermott told us not to answer that question right away, but first to tell them who we have become as a result of our study abroad experience. We have all become strong, independent people, who can easily navigate the world (no matter what language is written on the street signs). We have all become people who know how to act, speak, and carry ourselves confidently in whatever situation we may find ourselves. Finally, we have all become people who simplify the complex, who take positions for which we can make the case, and who never, ever give up.
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