Things I Have Learned

“You will come home a different person.” This is what I remember Dr. Wasser telling me at our first informational session last spring. Sitting in that classroom I thought, “This is going to be a great experience, but I am who I am and there is NO changing that. How could a month long trip change me? I do not need change.” Wow, was I wrong!! This trip not only taught me about myself, but it helped me to gain knowledge about a different culture, language, and another health care system.

I think the biggest change resulting from my study abroad experience would be the confidence I gained in myself. I have a very close relationship with my family, hence I depend on them for many things. Sometimes, I think that I am pretty “needy.” I will end up calling them for the smallest things, even if it is something I can do on my own. It seems that I just need their approval. I had never been forced to realize that I was “grown up” enough to make my own decisions. This trip definitely changed that. I realize that I am a fully capable adult. I have traveled to the opposite side of the world without my parents. I am now an independent individual!

Before the trip, I was a ball of stress. I panicked about most anything and everything. After getting lost several times in a foreign country where I did not speak the language, I have realized that panicking does not alter the situation; in fact, it makes it worse. You must first analyze the situation and make a plan to get out of it. This is what I am trying to apply to my daily life. No, I do not get lost in College Station, but I do stress about things that I should not. When I start to worry about something, I remind myself about the day that Adriane and I could not find our way home. We just kept walking and eventually found our house. When I think about this, I am reminded to keep striving for my goals.

Another thing that I gained was a desire to watch the world news. I have always liked to watch the local news, or watch when something “big” was going on, but I never had the desire to stay current with news from other countries. The first night at my host family’s house, I was asked what I knew about Germany. I felt so embarrassed and ashamed that the only things that I knew were bad--for example, The Holocaust. Since being home from Germany, I have made it a point to watch more world news and read the paper. I was especially interested during the elections from Germany. I feel like I can have an intelligent conversation about the world and its affairs with anyone now.

After starting school this semester, I was a little bit disappointed. I absolutely loved Dr. Wasser’s teaching style. It was so relaxed, but I honestly feel like I learned just as much, if not more, than in a regular classroom setting. I feel that we did not just learn the information to spit out on a test, but we went out into the world and used it and saw how it was applied. The changing of settings kept things interesting. We went from buses to trains to museums to restaurants.

Then, there were Frau Pilartz’s lectures which I absolutely loved! I learned so many interesting things about the German culture that I never would have learned in a class here in the U.S., or just by visiting Germany. Through her lectures, and living with a host family, I learned to respect people that have differing opinions. I am usually a “It’s my way or the highway” type of person. The trip taught me that I did not constantly have to be “in charge” or know every detail about what was going to happen. I learned to be flexible and to adapt to unusual or unplanned situations. That was a major milestone for me to realize! I must have respect for other people and their opposing ideas, if I am going to be successful in today’s society.

There are many other things that I have learned from this trip, but it would take too much time to write them all down. Some, I probably still have not realized. I know that this was a once in a lifetime experience and I treasure it!!!!