It’s been nearly three months since I left Europe and somehow it feels as if no time has passed while also feeling like it’s been years. I loved my semester abroad and had so many new experiences that I never would’ve imagined—from randomly stumbling across a palace while taking a bus to an amusement park, to having my host parents lie about my age to get me into a museum for free in Vienna, to getting lost in a parking garage during a fire alarm, to taking a final exam whilst on a river cruise. So many experiences, yet my favorite thing to come out of my semester abroad is the friendships I have made. I’ve already seen a lot of Germany people since coming back and I am constantly reminded how wonderful it is to have such adventurous friends. I look forward to seeing everyone else who still have not returned to College Station and to having good friends to rely on in the years to come.
The biggest thing that sets apart this program from others is the real sense of community you get. From the second we touched down in Germany we had so much support. We had a home with our host parents (thank you to the Plachetkas for opening your beautiful house and garden to me) , a city willing to welcome us (thank you Bonn for being so friendly toward our clueless American ways), endless support and advice—from everyone at AIB (thank you Nick and Sarah, Hilde, and all of the student workers)—and from everyone at Texas A&M (thank you to Romi, Harrison and Alexa, and our study abroad advisor Kerri Vance), and lastly an experienced professor who seemed to know absolutely everything about absolutely anything (thank you so much Dr. Wasser for dedicating so much of your time to create this program in the first place and again for always being there for your students).
I don’t feel as if I’ve changed that much. Studying abroad is something I’ve been eager to do since early high school, so I think I was very much ready to take on all of the challenges that came with it whether that be finding funding or combating a language barrier. That being said, I am definitely more confident in myself and my own capabilities than I used to be. Travelling alone doesn’t scare me anymore, and that was the one thing I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do beforehand. I also feel especially adaptable now. When I went on my second study abroad program, I’d already adjusted to European life but none of the other students had—it was so funny to see what things surprised them and to be reminded that not long ago those things weren’t “normal” to me either.
Another thing I learned is that although school is the main focus of my life right now, it doesn’t have to be my only focus. There’s still plenty of time for friends and travel and new experiences in between the classes and the schoolwork. My biggest piece of advice to anyone going on this program in the future is to spend your money on as many experiences as possible. I went to 12 countries in my 5 months abroad, and in Germany alone I went to three concerts and two different amusement parks. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you should make the most of it—travel as much as you can and try everything.
To get a look at what a semester abroad in Bonn looked like for me and what it could look like for you, here are links to my google calendars. This first shows my weekend travels and the second gives a look into the class schedule as it changed week to week.
Weekend Travels--
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=lexiesmith98%40gmail.com&ctz=Europe%2FBerlin
Class and Assignment Schedule--
https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=1uav81lub7ibu2ski503f3jf5o%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=Europe%2FBerlin
