This is the last week of my study abroad program. It has taken me about 20 minutes to write that very sentence, the weight of those words weighing down on me. As a writer and frequent traveler who likes to look out the window for an entire plane ride, very little happens to me without reflection. I’ve learned a lot about the world these past few months, having the ability to experience it all and take in all the different cultures. I’ve picked up on different cultural expectations when it comes to dating, tried different types of food, and I left my comfort zone every time I left my apartment.
Between falling in front of Scottish castles and falling during some of my runs in Hyde Park, I realized that I had fallen in love with the people I was traveling with. Being able to travel with my best friends has been one of the highlights of going abroad. I never felt alone with my best friends by my side, hiking up mountains and trekking up 500 winding steps to get to the top of the Duomo. They’ve supported me, laughed at and with me and have been amazing travel companions.
I know it’s cliché to say that studying abroad has changed me, but there was no way to avoid this change. I live in London — a sentence that won’t hold true when I fly home in two days. Just as I have started to walk on the left side of the sidewalk, I was just starting to get used to living in London. Like the first semester of college, I had to start over in a new place, move into a cramped but charming dorm and memorize the varying subway systems. The ambiguity of starting fresh felt nothing but serene to me. When I first arrived in London in January, I had no “next steps” planned and no idea what the next few months would hold. I am a woman born with a planner in one hand and a neatly colored pen set in the other – I was made for planning. London meant that had to change. When traveling we rarely had a plan, which led to spontaneity in its purest form. It led us to brunch on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower, it led me down the streets of Florence in the middle of a rainstorm and led me on dates with near strangers.
Being in London has taught me to not be afraid of spending time alone. Walking down the streets of London, whether it be any one of my favorite towns — Shoreditch, Camden, Holborn, Soho or any other cities in which I have enjoyed being alone. I never feared these moments, but relished in them, because I knew that my friends were a phone call or text away. Most importantly of all, I’ve learned to love myself. Toeing the line between some self-fulling prophecy and selfishness, going abroad has been the experience that allows me to be exactly that — me. A body ignored and a mind over-stimulated last semester had left me with several issues. In London, I learned to start to stand up for myself. I spoke up during my internship, gave my opinion in class and started to refuse to be treated a certain way.
This is not to say that I have become the best version of me — this is to say that I am a person always learning and reflecting upon myself. This would not have been possible without the relationships that I had during my time in London. My co-workers, friends, sorority sisters, family members — whether close to me or far away have been a pivotal part of my experience and my growth as a person. Having the support of those I love has allowed me to grow. This doesn’t mean that I won’t continue to make mistakes like texting an ex or ghosting someone, this is to say that every day I grow a little bit more. This past semester I was lucky that all of my growing happened under the uncharacteristic London sunshine and with the people who I love.
Meredith loves telling stories and pretending to be Carrie Bradshaw, minus the man and comfy NYC apartment. She, however, eats enough brunch to cover all six seasons. When she's not drowning in 16th-century literature, she can be found lamenting over the bad grammar and bad boys in her middle school diary.
Find her on twitter @merewilsh or email her mwilsher@bu.edu with all your love musings or questions.
