By Katie
As I was sitting down to write my last blog, I came in with the goal of summing up everything I did this past year into one nice story with an overarching message, and I could think of…nothing. The reality is that you can’t. There are parts of my time in Germany that I loved and that have left me with life-lasting memories. There are also parts of this past year that have been hard. I heard a lot before I left for Germany that living a year abroad is simultaneously the most amazing and challenging year of your life, but it is impossible to understand until you live it yourself.
The best way that I can put things into words is that living in a foreign country forces you so far out of your comfort zone that it’s impossible not to change and grow. It’s a wonderful thing I wouldn’t trade for anything, but at the same time, change is scary, and growth causes growing pains.
It would take me an entire book to explain everything I did this past year, so I will try to conclude things with a few of the most meaningful things I learned this year:
Most people are a lot friendlier than you expect, and you can learn a lot by talking with total strangers.
It takes throwing yourself into a new environment to see who you really are.
Sometimes, the most unexpected experiences turn out to be the most rewarding.
At our core, all people around the world are the same.
