So, today marks the one year anniversary of the day that I stepped off the plane at Heathrow Airport in London and made a dream that I had been dreaming since I was 15 come true! It really felt weird to start my semester at WKU a couple of days ago. I feel like I should be going back to England this fall. The whole fall semester last year was honestly so surreal. I would change some things, but overall I believe that everything that happened during and after the experience has made me grow as a person. That's one of the things that I wanted to be honest. I wanted to say a year later that I had become more grown up than I was before. I had never lived anywhere but home with parents for my first eighteen years of life. I had to be away for my birthday, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas (which was a little better because my parents and sister were there for that holiday), but I missed all of our normal family traditions. I definitely won't be taking any of those experiences for granted ever again. In fact, I've learned in the last few months that I really don't need to take anything for granted on a day by day basis. You really never know when it will be the last time you see someone, do something, or go somewhere.
I'm back to blog! I think this is super exciting because that was one of my favorite parts of studying abroad, which I will expand on later. I've been wanting to write this post for a few months now, but I figured that I needed to wait until the one year anniversary to see if I still felt the same way about the lists that I am about to share.
I make lists. It's what I do. I suppose it's part of my organizational psyche. So, I have compiled a few lists with five things each. They include my top five places, five things I learned from studying abroad, and five new goals that I still have or have set for myself since being home. Without further ado, here are my lists!
The Top 5 Places I Went
I have very meticulously narrowed down a list of the top five places that I visited while living at Harlaxton. It was extremely difficult, but I'm happy with my list!
1. London
Here's the thing. I was most excited about going to London. I had dreamed about walking the streets of London for a long time. I did go to London on three separate different occasions during my four and half months in England, and I probably would've gone more, even just for a day, if I could do it over again. London is one of those places that I had a gut feeling about. I knew that I would love it. I knew that it would feel like home. It did, which didn't surprise me. I can't wait for the day that I get to set foot on London streets again.
2. Cheshire
If I ever live in England, I will either live near London or most likely, in the beautiful county of Cheshire. Everything about it reminded me of home. The picture above looks like something I would take in my hometown except Cheshire is a smidge greener than home. Also, it's close to the next the place on my list.
3. Liverpool
Yes, we did all of the touristy Beatles things in the city, but this is actually the city that I am most excited about going back to. Liverpool, the city, was incredible. I would definitely live there. It was a big city, but felt quite small, like most places in England. It was a beautiful place to visit. I mainly just love England the most in general. It was autumn from the time I got there until December, which made me love the country even more.
4. Paris
I was actually very nervous about Paris. I wanted to like it, but I didn't know how it would compare to London. I was pleasantly surprised. Walking around Paris and admiring that beautiful architecture was one of my favorite things all semester. Also, Parisian food was hard to beat. Yes, even escargot. The Eiffel Tower wasn't too bad either. ;) By the way, I still don't know what my hair is doing in that extremely touristy picture.
5. Venice
Venice was my favorite Italian city because....well, look at it. It's gorgeous, and the canals and the living arrangements there blow my mind. It's on the top of my 'take my family to' places. If you ever go, you must do a gondola ride. I feel like you don't get the touristy Venetian experience unless you do it. If you can find some more people, it's actually not that expensive. You're only Venice once, just ride on a gondola! It's a magical place.
5 Things I Learned From Study Abroad
This list is going to be a little bit deeper than the last one. I learned a whole lot during my study abroad experience. I even continued to learn after I got home.
1. You Only Live Once
I've never been one to use YOLO, but I think that in this case, it's necessary. You really do only live once as far as we know. Make the best of it. Don't worry about what other people think. Honestly, if you're doing a life changing experience like studying abroad, it's about one person: yourself. Be selfish for once in your life. Do this for you and only you. Don't do something just because someone else does it. It has to be what you're passionate about, not what your neighbor or friend is passionate about. Work hard, and make your dreams come true.
2. Don't Take Your Family for Granted
Family is one of the most important aspects in my life. Without their support and advice, I would've never been able to do this in the first place. I thought when I left that I would be very homesick, but the truth was, I was too busy to be homesick. This was true until things started to slow down after the Paris trip. Thanksgiving dinner made me extremely homesick. One of the biggest things that was reiterated during and after study abroad was that no matter what you go through, your family are always going to be there for you, they will always be your best friends, and you will never be alone when you have your family around you.
3. Don't Worry
Haha! I would like to see my face one year ago if future me had offered this piece of advice. I am a first class worrier. I get it honest from my Mamaw. Sometimes, I worry so much that I get physically sick, which I learned in Europe. This is literally one of the only things I would change if I could do it over again.
4. Take Risks
Just say yes. Just do it. Pre-Study Abroad, Bowling Green Alexandria would've have never done some of the things that I did. I'm proud that I did things that I did. I'm still shocked about some of things that I did. They include sleeping at Paddy's Palace in Dublin, walking around the alleys of Edinburgh at night, walking around anywhere at night for that matter, and of course, getting on the (wrong) train in England.
5. Life Changes Like the Weather
Sorry to go all Taylor Swift on you, but it's true. You never know what's going to happen. I used to think that that was scary, but life is beautifully unpredictable. With that comes the hard topic that people change as well. The absolute biggest life lesson I learned from this experience is that people change and people grow apart. Friendly reminder that this is your life, and you can chose who want or don't want in life. It's not something to be bitter about, it happens. People wouldn't grow if this didn't happen. I know that I used to feel confused about friendship and growing apart, but now I know that friendship is a two way street and growing apart is a natural part of life.
5 Goals For the Future
Harlaxton was my goal since I was fifteen years old! That is three and half years of wishing for this experience to happen, and it didn't disappoint. However, I felt a little empty when I got back because my goal had been accomplished. Of course, I have LIFE goals like graduating college, going to graduate school, becoming a neonatal nurse practitioner, getting married, and becoming a mom. These goals on this list are more short-term goals though. I think that those are just as important as life goals.
1. Travel to Three New Places Within the Next Two Years
I definitely want to keep traveling because it's a part of who I am. I want to make sure that I see three new places in the next two years, which I think is a fair goal. Hopefully, one of those places is New York City.
2. Travel Back To England By 2020
The year 2010 didn't affect me, but I think that 2020 will. I hope that I can say that I've been back to England, my second home, by that year.
3. Keep Blogging
I've been crap at this since I've been back, but it was one of my favorite parts of the semester. I've always found writing something, anything, to be a therapeutic task. It helps you regroup and reflect. It made me so happy to post blogs every week when I was in Europe. I know that I'll have this to look back on.
4. YouTube
Something that has always made me happy was being in front of some kind of audience. Being on camera is one of my favorite things. My family can tell you that from my camera hogging technique of childhood home movies. I loved vlogging in Europe, and I have been thinking of getting back in the YouTube swing of things. I hope to have 100 subscribers in the next year.
5. DeTox
This means that I need to continue to do some life spring cleaning if you will. Any relationship that is healthy, I will keep, even though I am extremely horrible at keeping in touch. Any relationship that I feel is unhealthy for me, I will distance myself from. I want to eat healthier as well, which is part of this. I need to drink as much water as I did at Harlaxton, and I'm slowly but surely working on that again. I just want to be happy and make sure that I am my first priority when it's my time. This is my life afterall.
Once again, I cannot believe that it's been year since I left for Harlaxton, but I am excited about what's to come in the future. As always, thank you for reading.
Tell me in the comments if there are any short-term goals that you have, or maybe you have learned something in the past year that you would like to share with me!
Thanks again!
All the love,
Alexandria :)
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