A Look Back

I learned so much from my time in Greece and traveling in that area of the world. I definitely have become a more confident person and I am much more aware of the world around me. While in the last few days I was wishing to be home, now that I’ve been here, I’m wishing to be anywhere else in the world. Stonehill and Hollis just feel so small to me. Now that I’ve experienced just a tiny taste of what is out there, I realize that there is so much more out there to see, to do, or to be. My time abroad has really caused to me to reevaluate my goals and where I see myself in the future. Now that I know what’s out there I feel better prepared to make a decision on what’s out there for me. I may have picked the wrong majors, but there is still my entire life ahead of me to live how I want to. My world view has been widened, but there is more room for me to grow. I am now more inspired than ever to travel and to experience the people and cultures of this world. Three months is a long time to be away from home; but I firmly believe that it could take even longer than that to truly experience a culture. While traveling was great, I wish that I could have spent a lot longer in some of the places that I visited to get more of a feel for that country’s and culture’s identity.
I am also much more proud of myself now than I was before I went to Greece. I saw and experienced a lot of there; and each of those things makes me a stronger person. Living in such a foreign culture as Greece and actually learning the language was also a huge part of the experience and I’m so proud that I challenged myself with my study abroad. Coming back to the Stonehill and living with girls that studied in London, Scotland, and Australia, I realize how truly different my experience was compared to most others’. I faced challenges everyday that many of my peers never even had to think about. I lived through a period of great civil unrest in Greece, and learned so much about Greek culture and myself through that experience.
My time in Greece truly changed me. I now feel like a more complete person. A person that can endure and understand. A person with a greater passion for life and all the gifts that it can bring. A person with goals and ideas bigger than herself. Through my experience in Greece I feel like I have found me.