I’m from a reasonably large city [in Iowa], which actually means at the fourth largest city in the state, we have approximately 80,000 residents. I downsized a bit when moving to college: I now live in a town of 6,000 residents. I have loved my college experience more than most people (so much so that I’m applying to PhD programs to become a professor)—I love my research projects, my academic staff committees, student government, residence life, my professors, my professors’ cats, my engaging classes, tutoring, my fellow students, being a teaching assistant, the honors program, All-Wing Study Break Mondays, Taco Sunday, Wednesday Spaghetti Night, trick-or-treat with the faculty and staff’s children, emphasis on community, etc. I love my small-town college experience. The downside of a small Christian liberal arts college is the too-often homogeneity of experiences and opinions (and the cafeteria, that too). And, in recognizing this as a potential pitfall to developing well-rounded critical thinkers with a broad worldview, my college strongly encourages studying abroad. This has been one of my favorite things about Northwestern, because it allowed me to pursue my passions outside of academia (which I intend on nurturing until I retire) and explore living in a city, off-campus, in an apartment, with six other girls from entirely different backgrounds.

I sought out the opportunity to study abroad in Italy primarily because I wanted a semester dedicated to experiences, character development, and food. As a psychology major, I’ve had plenty of time to self-analyze through personality, motivation, cognition, etc. classes, and I found that there were a few traits that were desirable for maintaining good psychological and physical health, that I was struggling to have. Namely, I often lacked the ability to not plan out every moment of my life, doubted my ability to achieve dreams in spite of a whirlwind of academic involvement and natural ability, face conflict, and I’d only lived in my bubble of my college which, honestly, is comparative to a four-year summer camp (only with all-nighters pulled for studying). I challenged myself to make this semester one focused more on character development than getting all A’s and volunteering for every available committee.

It was entirely worthwhile. I initially learned to be flexible by trying all of the flavors of gelato at my near-by gelateria—pear and cottage cheese! fondente! cheesecake! caramel crème! yogurt and Nutella! I’m normally a chocolate-caramel girl, but as I continually tried new flavors, I realized that just because I love one thing, doesn’t mean that I can’t enjoy and like something else. After the first few weeks, I found myself not even really having to think about not getting chocolate, rather I found myself buying kiwi, pomegranate, Mona Lisa (apple sauce, walnuts, raisins, and spices—my favorite), rose, lavender, etc. Because I did not limit myself to something safe and reliable, I experienced a whole host of gustatory experiences I would have otherwise neglected. I recognize this is perhaps a silly example of how I learned to be adventurous and less flexible, but really, who doesn’t love a good gelato anecdote?

I traveled. Quite frequently. I adventured around Italy to places like Venice, Rome, Pisa, Lucca (where I accidentally attended a Comic-Con) Volterra, Maremma, Bologna, Pompeii, Herculaneum, etc. I went to the French Riviera and Monaco and spent Sunday morning reading on the beach and strolling through the French markets buying fleur de sel and lavender olive oil. I went to my omi’s hometown of Munich and experienced Oktoberfest, the Christmas Markets, Dachau, and the Neuschwanstein Castle. I went to Berlin, where my omi was born, and learned more about Hitler’s Germany and the economic depression prior to WWII. I ate waffles with chocolate and speculoos, pommes frittes with curry ketchup (which is one thing America is really missing out on), and truffles while in Brussels, Belgium for the afternoon. I had a picnic dinner with a baguette and goat cheese with a new friend under the sparkling Eiffel Tower. I jumped off a cliff into a canyon in Interlaken, Switzerland (where I also finished my last two graduate applications in a pub while indulging in a bacon cheeseburger). I got lost wandering the canals of Amsterdam trying to find poffertjes (little pancakes with rum butter and powdered sugar—a treat made in my college town during Tulip Festival) and I visited Anne Frank’s house. I spent mornings buying spices at the market on La Rambla in Barcelona, the afternoon napping on the beach and eating a sandwich with lentils on it, and the evening eating paella, drinking sangria, and watching a flamenco show. I jumped through piles of leaves whenever I found them. I took a multi-course French holiday cooking course in Paris where I learned to behead and debone a quail and stuff it with foie gras. I ate seafood whenever I could see the sea from my restaurant (this doesn’t happen in Iowa). I bought spices from a boy who looked like Ron Weasely and goulash from a Victor Krum-type fellow while in Budapest.

I lived a lifetime’s full of adventures in four months.

I am entirely blessed for all of the people I met and befriend, whether it was just in class, on the train to Germany, for a weekend, fellow students, professors, fellow tour-goers, and restaurant owners.

And, throughout all of my adventures, I did indeed learn to become more flexible, to be more social, to try crazy new things (i.e. canyon jumping), to be patient, and to take time to lay on the beach and read.

This was how I spent the last semester of my 3.5 year college experience.

It was entirely worthwhile.

My next adventure looks a little different: I’m starting a PhD program in the fall, and I have an interview in Florida this week for a full-funded program. I plan on studying meaning-making, life-stories, and well-being, and I’m fairly certain that studying abroad will always be a central event in my life story.

Thank you for aiding me in traipsing across Europe, developing as a person, and engorging in a plethora of truffle-related dishes (both of the chocolate and fungus variety).