Study Abroad: The Match That Starts the Fire

Written by Kevin April 22, 2016

Rome Sunset

Roman Forum

London Eye

Sunset in Italy

First I want to apologize for the super cheesy title, I just thought it was pretty accurate and might be cheesy enough to get you to read up to this point. What I mean by that is studying abroad really makes you want to learn. Learn about not only other countries, cultures, and histories, but about yourself and your own culture as well. By being put into a situation that is unfamiliar, it allows you to look at the world in a new context, so many times I caught myself noticing so much in European cities that I had never would have noticed in the U.S. By exploring and being a tourist you notice those interesting buildings that may not be monuments or “tourist sites”, I can only expect that I will take that to the U.S. It really is noticing the little things about some of these very different European cities, not just the main tourist sites that make them what they are.

Also, most importantly, studying abroad has made me curious. Many of these cities that I have been to are large capitals and huge cities that I can only get a taste of in a weekend, single day, or at best a few days. I noticed this especially in Rome and London where I was last week. I only had a few days in both of those cities combined so I did as much as I could, but by only being there for so long, it made me interested to look up and do my own research after visiting those cities. After leaving Rome, I looked into the history of Rome, much of which I had learned in history classes, but after seeing sites like the Coliseum, Roman Forum, Sistine Chapel, and Saint Peter’s Square, it made me much more curious to continue to learn. Another example, after London and many other cities/countries involved with WWII, I became more curious about WWII and especially how it affected Europe not just the United States. So many of these landmarks teach you about the past, but they can only put so much into the tours and experiences in those landmarks. I wish I had done this research before I visited, but better late than never. By seeing many of these sites, it really triggers a desire to learn, or as my cheesy title implies, it lights the “match” that makes me want to start (again cheesy) the learning fire.