There And Back Again: My Semester Abroad in Europe
In my life, I’ve constantly been looking for new challenges and opportunities to stretch my boundaries and grow since high school. The decision to leave the Sandwich school system and head to Boston College High School was the first time I really went outside my comfort zone. That two-hour commute every morning was no fun, but the decision to go to BC High was the best decision I’ve ever made and made me who I am today. Three and a half years later, during the college decision process, I had a choice to go to Boston College, or stretch my boundaries again and go to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. I could have chosen the comfort of Chestnut Hill and gone to school with my best friend from BC High, but again, I chose to leave that comfort behind and start a new adventure in a different region at Georgetown.
Now let’s fast forward to junior year, spring semester, in Copenhagen. Talk about stretching (and in this case — crossing) boundaries. I’m not even sure where to begin with talking about the incredible four months I spent in Copenhagen. As I sit here, 48 hours removed from my trip home back to Cape Cod, it feels like this past semester was a dream. To me, it seems like I was just hugging my family goodbye and heading off to Copenhagen, and now I’m back on the Cape. Copenhagen was so incredible, and my time was so amazing, that it literally feels like a dream. It feels like the memories I have can’t be real.
The classic phrase that everyone uses when they post their Instagrams and talk about their semester abroad is, “Abroad changed me”. I don’t think that studying abroad changed me. I still feel like I am the same person. But what has changed are the lessons I learned and the experiences I gained during this four-month period.
At no other point in our lives will we, as college students, be able to take out a four-month chunk out of our lives to dedicate to studying in a foreign country and traveling around the world. For me, Denmark was a great place to learn, not only in the classroom but outside of it too. Denmark is drastically different from the United States, with regards to how environmentally-friendly it is, the welfare state that permeates many aspects of its society, and how the Danes conduct themselves. That juxtaposition with the US helped me gain an understanding of a new culture.
To a stranger, the Danes seem almost cold, and not very talkative. I thought this at first, and still do to some extent. But after developing relationships with several Danes, I came to see that I was wrong. The Danes are very warm people, but the difference between them and Americans is they keep to themselves more. They don’t worry about what other people are doing. In Denmark, the culture is not as competitive. Danes don’t get jealous of others’ success, and they don’t try to compete with each other for grades or for jobs. There is a focus on equality, stemming from the Danish principle of janteloven, which translates to, ‘The Law of Jante’. Janteloven was created by Danish-Norwegian author Aksel Sandemose in 1933 in his novel A Fugitive Crosses His Tracks. The novel is about a small Danish town called Jante which abides by these 10 laws:
- You’re not to think you are anything special.
- You’re not to think you are as good as we are.
- You’re not to think you are smarter than we are.
- You’re not to convince yourself that you are better than we are.
- You’re not to think you know more than we do.
- You’re not to think you are more important than we are.
- You’re not to think you are good at anything.
- You’re not to laugh at us.
- You’re not to think anyone cares about you.
- You’re not to think you can teach us anything.
Because of this mindset, there less social pressure to get a lucrative job or graduate with top grades. Do you want to take a year off from school to go travel the world? Well go right ahead, says Danish society. In fact, the government will still pay you for getting an education, despite taking a year off. If only the US would take a hint and do the same. As a result of this attitude, the people are much more relaxed, and I think that contributes, in part, to Denmark’s reputation as being one of the happiest countries in the world. Coming from the hyper-competitive culture at Georgetown, this contrast was very striking to me.
Whether it be BC High, Georgetown, or living in Europe for four months, I’ve always been nervous prior to the journey. And I think that’s natural. Most people are afraid of the unknown, but the unknown is called that for a reason. We have to go there to learn new things: about ourselves, about our surroundings, about life. I experienced my fair share of scary moments this semester, whether it be getting hopelessly lost by myself in Copenhagen at the beginning of the semester, or driving by myself in pouring rain in the middle of nowhere in Iceland. I think however, that it’s that fear that we experience that helps us grow. We need those uncomfortable moments to prove to ourselves that we can handle certain situations that are new to us, and in the process, grow. And Europe provided plenty of those moments.
Part of what makes people sad about leaving where ever they study abroad is that they begin to develop a real life abroad after four months. You begin to make real friends in the country you study in, you get used to your commute to school, you begin to love where you live…and then just like that you have to head back home to the United States. Just when you begin to settle down and build some roots abroad, you get torn up suddenly and returned to reality.
We begin to live a very mobile life as college students. You shuttle back and forth between living at your school and living at home. Then there’s study abroad. And then you could live somewhere else for the summer depending on what job you have. It’s all part of a formative process for us to grow and learn as young adults. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, get new experiences, and see new places. It’s an exciting time, but also wrought with uncertainty, and at times fear. If abroad taught me anything, it’s that it’s important to embrace those times of uncertainty, because that’s when we grow the most.
“I see my path, but I don’t know where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel it.” -Rosalia de Castro
