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At the moment, I’m traveling back from Munich to Pamplona, Spain, where I am studying abroad after having spent the weekend at Oktoberfest. I haven’t gotten more than a few hours of sleep any night in the past week, I haven’t showered in three days and I’m pretty sure I caught the plague in Germany. In other words, I am as happy as I have ever been.

I have only been abroad for two months, but I have grown more as an individual than in two years at UNC. Don’t get me wrong, I love Carolina. It is because of my time at UNC that I wanted to have this new experience. This is not to say that I have adapted a foolproof approach to studying abroad, but I do think I have learned some valuable lessons that I would have liked to know when I first entered Chapel Hill.

1. Branch out (don’t just hang out with Americans!)

Much like the beginning of college, it's easy to seek comfort in the company of familiar faces when you're abroad, but I can confidently say the best decision I have abroad was forcing myself to look like a fool when I went up to a group of Spaniards on my first day and began a conversation in broken Spanish. This set the tone for what I hoped to gain from studying abroad, which was the perspectives of people who have lived completely different lives from anything I have ever known.

If you do feel so inclined to surround yourself with Americans because they can certainly be a good safety net initially, ask them to meet new people with you. Travel with them. Speak the foreign language with them. Isolate yourself as much as you can from the familiar; after all, what’s the good in opting for a slight comfort when so little is in a foreign place?

2. Make mistakes

I say this rather than “don’t be afraid to make mistakes,” because mistakes are inevitable. Whether they come in the form of awkwardness learning a new language or simply being unfamiliar with cultural customs, you will make mistakes. And you will grow from them. The sooner you allow yourself to screw up, the easier it will become to bounce back. Don’t forget to laugh at yourself; it will loosen up both you and the people who just witnessed your incompetence.

3. Decide what your priorities for study abroad are

I love Pamplona. Pamplona is a city replete with culture and history from which to learn from and appreciate. However, I have a tremendous passion for traveling, and Pamplona is unfortunately victim to sharing a country with Madrid and Barcelona, whose airports dominate air traffic. As a result, every time I would like to travel internationally, I have to take a four-hour train ride, adding around $75 to each trip I take. As a college student, this makes a big difference in how I budget every trip. If your top priority for studying abroad is not travelling outside of your study abroad country, this matters much less.

In hindsight, if I were going back through the process now, I would have considered accessibility to international airports as a more important facet of my decision. Speaking on this matter, my bank account has been saved because of two websites: SkyScanner and Hostel World.

4. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, don’t worry about FOMO

My biggest concern before committing to study abroad for a semester was the fear of missing out on a semester in the Thrill. Don’t let this stop you.

I recently had a friend tell me he would be abroad for the spring, and I will undoubtedly miss him terribly. But I didn’t urge him against going because I would recommend this experience to anyone I cared about; you are in the midst of the greatest period of development in your life, and you are exposed to more diversity than you have likely ever encountered before.

The great part about Chapel Hill is that it doesn’t change that much, and it will still be the same place you’ve known and loved for the past several semesters once you return. But you will not be the same person you were the past several semesters once you return, and that’s what is most special about taking this type of an excursion abroad.

5. Don't be afraid to ask for advice

My final piece of advice is simple: if you have any doubts about studying abroad, simply talk to someone who studied abroad and someone who didn’t study abroad about their thoughts on the matter. That should answer your question.

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