Guest Blogger: Kara (England)

 

Nothing can describe the view from the top of University Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Four pounds to get in—unless the person ringing you up is cool, then it’s three pounds—and several trekked steps will get you to the end of the spiral staircase. There’s room for only one person to go up or down, and window ledges to step into in case you come across another person going the opposite direction. That staircase is not for the claustrophobic. The railing is the wall on each side of you, and the steps become steeper and narrower the farther you climb. Then, the final corner appears, you can see light from outside and then…All of Oxford is right there for you to see.

Moving around the ledge, staring at the place I had been walking around for weeks, finding all the carvings in the walls (one from the early 1700s—that’s older than America!) and thinking about the history of the place I was in. Up on that ledge, I realized how lucky I was to be in another country.

My footprints have been somewhere I never thought I would be. I walked the same paths some of the famous authors I’ve read about might have. I miss England more and more each day; I can’t help it. 

I was in Oxford for five weeks and I stayed an extra week to go on other adventures, and each day I long to return.But I’ll be honest.  By the end of that week, I was ready to get on that plane and embark on the eight-hour journey home: I missed my family, my animals, and my friends. And as soon as I got off the airplane being shuffled through various checkpoints, England called back to me. Studying abroad was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I wish I had taken more time to appreciate what was around me. I think I took for granted how much time I had there because I thought I could do so much, but five weeks is a millisecond when you’re taking a trip to Stonehenge or to London to see Shakespeare’s plays at The Globe.

There’s something about learning and living in a new place that gives you a stronger sense of who you are and what you are like on your own. Nothing ever happens the way you think it will happen. I planned on keeping up a blog while I was abroad, and I ended up just posting once. I was SO busy. Between field trips, homework, and wanting to explore, I had no time to blog like I thought I would. I thought I could wait and do all of my traveling near the end of my study abroad program. 

As much as you think you’ll want to go home, once you actually are home and surrounded by your routine, the places you’ve been, the people you’ve met, and the memories you have will always pull at you. You’ll want to talk about your experiences as much as you can. When someone asks you at a family event about your experience, you’ll perk up so much more than you would if they would have asked you about school or work. You’ll be a completely different person than you were when you stepped onto that plane to leave.

To anyone who has ever thought about studying abroad: do it. If there’s even the slightest chance, take it. Apply to a program, scavenge the internet for as many scholarship opportunities that you can because any application is worth it to see the world.

To anyone who is studying abroad: do as much as you can while you’re there, enjoy where you are staying, and don’t worry about going home. You’ve been given an opportunity so you might as well make the most out of it.  Your friends and family will be there when you get back. You’re there to learn and explore. So never take it for granted because it will be one of the coolest things you’ll ever do.

To anyone like me, who thought they could only stay in their comfortable bubble and would never see the world: I saw the world from the top of University Church of St. Mary the Virgin, and it was beautiful.