During the fall 2024 semester, I had the opportunity to participate in a full exchange abroad program through Central in the United Kingdom at the University of Central Lancashire, one of the several schools that the Center for International Education (CIE) partners with. For five months, I got to live, study and travel around a new country and new setting, making it all the more exciting. 

 I have always been someone to get up and go explore a new place spontaneously, whether it’s driving a few hours away to go on a hike at a state park I’ve never been to or getting up at the break of dawn to go on a long bike ride. The idea of solo traveling can be daunting at first with so many options for places to travel and stay, but when you book hostels and train tickets and set out to your destination, it comes full circle. The traveling experience from my study abroad allowed me to do even more of that and explore everything from the gigantic city of London in the south, all the way to the stunning Scottish Highlands way up north.  

 Navigating public transport proved to be a challenge, with delays due to strikes and bad weather being almost inevitable all over the U.K., but I didn’t let it deter me from getting to my destination every single time I set out from my flat. You appreciate the typical modes of transport, like cars, a bit more, but you also try your hand at something that can prepare you to deal with the unexpected, and how to handle it a bit differently than you normally would. The people you meet through solo traveling also add to the experience; I always met someone new at almost every single hostel I stayed at in the U.K., through events or just from sitting next to someone and striking up a conversation. Solo traveling is definitely a challenge, but you learn to be more comfortable being alone, and you become your own navigator, ready to explore whatever it is that comes your way next.  

 Academically speaking, it was one of the most enriching experiences in the last four years I’ve been in school. The rigor of the U.K.’s higher education system is much different from the United States Your final grade comes down to a project that encompasses everything you learned and studied for during the semester, so the pressure to do well is higher, and more time is given to complete projects. I got to do everything; from creating a research poster on intersectionality and how it affects black transgender women in the criminal justice system for my criminology course, to reading outstanding modern literature by authors such as James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and Kazuo Ishiguro for my English course. I even tried my hands at writing a story on the popularity and struggles of American football in the U.K. for my sports magazine course, where I worked in a team of four others to compile stories and layout a specialty magazine. Each one of these classes challenged me more in my learning and made me deeply appreciate the three subjects I took when I was there. It’s an excellent challenge to take, and it’s highly rewarding to see your work pay off.  

 I was lucky to have met a wonderful crowd of people at the university I was at, all of whom were also international students, trying to figure out life in a new place, too. I actually met one of my closest friends right off the plane when I landed in Manchester in September while trying to find our coach bus to the campus together. From there, our circle began to grow as we got introduced to everyone else in our group through university events and roommates. Through that, we all got to know each other really well, and shared our own world experiences while forming new ones in the U.K. We shared a lot as a group, from dinner nights, social events, emotions and trips together, and I’m happy to have met a family that I can go back overseas and visit again one day soon. 

 Studying abroad also redefined what I considered home.; I’ve been back at home in the United States for nearly three weeks, and it still feels very strange. Nothing prepares you for the feeling of detaching and leaving an environment where you built upon yourself, took risks, connected with the people and culture around you, and the experiences you get both in and out of the classroom, back to what is familiar. I don’t fit the previous mold of myself I had when I left in September, and I am happy I don’t.  

 When you break away from the comfort of what you know, you begin to learn so much about yourself, and it can turn into a drive to continue to explore and learn from this world even more. When you combine all these experiences together, you begin to develop a much different attitude to the world and how you choose to learn from and explore it. I am truly grateful that I was able to have this experience, which forced me out of my comfort zone and deepened my passions for learning and traveling, all of which make me more excited for the possibilities in the future to do something like this again.  

 I cannot recommend doing an exchange program enough, as the challenges, sights, lessons and people you get out of it will only make you want to stay curious and push yourself into new, transformative experiences.