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fter the flight attendant finishes informing the passengers of all of the exits on the plane, the pilot finally announces they are ready for takeoff. Your seat belt is tightly secured across your waist as the plane engine revs up and rotates toward the runway. The plane gradually accelerates forward as the wind pushes against the wings, slowly rocking it back and forth. Everything is in its upright and locked positions, including your spine, which stands as straight as a needle. The pinkness in your hands disappears as whiteness slowly creeps across your knuckles while you grasp the armrest. You feel every bump and rock the plane drives over until finally there is no more ground, there are only clouds, and you’ve ascended into the air. Your study abroad experience has officially begun. 

Most students will be returning to campus for the spring semester, but many will venture to foreign countries around the world to embark on a study abroad adventure. I am part of the 27 percent of University students who has the opportunity to live and study in another country for the upcoming six months. 

Like most, I was elated upon being accepted into the University’s study abroad program and soon committed to my travels. I spoke to many students who had studied abroad, all of whom claimed it was their best semester by far. Most of them spoke about the excitement of being able to see the world and how invigorating it was to live in a different culture.  

However, no one prepared me for the pain-staking anxiety that would engulf my mind and distract me in the final weeks I have left at the University. No one told me that I would begin to question my decision to go or that I would be hit with the reality of leaving so harshly. And certainly no one told me how hard it would be to say goodbye to the family I have been a part of the last two years. 

It’s possible that students like myself are so distracted by the fantasy of studying abroad that they neglect to think about what the reality of leaving school for a semester will mean. You think about leaving in such an abstract way that when the time comes to counting down to the departure, a wave of worries hits you like a bus hits Regina George.

For me, these fears circulated around the unknown. The prospect of not knowing exactly what to expect upon landing in a foreign country or knowing how to maneuver my way around an unfamiliar city are thoughts that occupy my mind and may also occupy the minds of students about to go abroad.

However, the fact I have slowly come to realize, which consoles me as I prepare for my travels, is this: There is no way to be prepared for the immense experience that is study abroad. Unless you have done it before, you can not possibly be prepared for everything studying abroad will throw at you. I can guarantee that I will get lost or commit a cultural faux pas, but the key is to be flexible, to go with the flow, to be open to any and all opportunities. 

Though it may be terrifying and life changing, we must embrace this wonderful time and accept that it might be difficult and unexpected. Those who study abroad have a unique exposure to the world because they get to see things that others only get to read about in books; that is something to cherish, not something to be anxious about. It will be hard to leave the familiarity of the Quad, the comfort of KAM’s sticky floors or the magnificent Chinese restaurants on Green Street.

But unless the University decides to send those places off for cleaning like they did with the Alma Mater, they will assuredly still be there when you get back. It is crucial that we cope with the reality of this change sooner, rather than later, to better enjoy our time abroad.  

Though it may be easier to sit in a puddle of dread and spend the upcoming weeks petrified of boarding the plane, I will embrace the small uncertainties as a part of the journey. 

Change is inevitable, and the faster we accept that, the easier it will be to manage with the stress and anxiety that life and opportunity will certainly bring. 

So unclench your knuckles, sit back in your seat, take the extra bag of peanuts and fly. 

Kate is a junior in LAS. She can be reached at [email protected].