Student Perspective – Study Abroad
By: Alice Hastings, ‘15
My name is Alice Hastings. I’m a senior at Gonzaga, finishing my English degree after a year abroad. I’m in the Honors Program, and spend a lot of my time working with study abroad and international students. Almost four years ago now (is that even possible?) I decided to come to Gonzaga. This university stood out to me because of its amazing community. People hold the doors for each other, cars let you cross the street, and everybody says hi on the way to class. Plus, I wanted to study abroad, and Gonzaga’s programs and perks are pretty competitive compared to many other schools.
My decision to study abroad was pretty typical. I desired to experience a culture different than my own. I wanted to explore. Most of all, I desperately needed to get out of my comfort zone and find the parts of myself that were hiding beyond these Gonzaga borders. And the food… that was big!
All these things led me to Greece, where I didn’t know a single person. Nobody from Gonzaga followed me. It was exhilarating, liberating, and extremely scary. Studying abroad inevitably comes with a greater reliance on the self. For the first time, I was truly independent. Sure, at Gonzaga I was on my own; but mom was always just a click away. If I needed to know how to cook lentils, I could just call her up for the recipe. Now that I was abroad, I was lucky to find wi-fi for a Facebook message or Viber text. As I walked through the revolving doors and into my new home of three months, I felt this new independence hit me like the humid Mediterranean breeze. It was gratifying but a little stifling.
At first, it was a difficult. A nervous knot formed in my throat as I rolled my bags through the airport. I hardly had the courage to walk up to the group of American students who would clearly be my classmates. Later that night, I would walk through the grocery stores, only to find that Ramen didn’t exist here. I realized I had no option other than to cook for myself or eat out every night. I have to admit… at first I did the latter.
Soon, this hesitation ended. I grew into my independence as I grew into my new home. I navigated the Greek metro system with complete ease, staring calmly into the eyes of the ticket lady who was trying to tell me that I wasn’t allowed to take a backpack on the train. I flew smoothly to Berlin at 3am with my friends and found my way to the hostel with only a paper map. (Imagine that!) By the last month of my trip, I had developed enough courage to introduce myself to a group of Belgium students. I invited them over for my oregano and pesto pasta, cooked by myself from scratch, with a side of fresh Greek salad. No Ramen required!
My favorite memory of Greece was an excursion. I was hiking on the rocks of an ancient sea cave. We came to a hole that opened up to a perfectly blue pool of water. We jumped in and swam for hours, trying to catch fish and collect rocks. Afterwards, we joined the villagers of Aliki to celebrate their Saint’s feast day. I sat eating a gyro with my best friend, the best friend I have ever had, and thought to myself: “This has been the most perfect day of my life.” This was the day that inspired me to go abroad again.
The next semester, I went to Ghana. Again, perhaps in a moment of craziness, I went to a place where I didn’t know a single person. I stayed with a host family and learned a completely new way of life, drastically different from my Greek experience. I ate banku and okra stew. I took drumming lessons from a world-class musician, and I studied alongside Ghanaian students. I grew even more in my independence, and my journey to find myself took on a new meaning. Life in a developing country is unlike anything we are used to. There is no way to describe it. If finding wireless internet was difficult in a developed European country, it was even harder in Ghana. I had to again learn how to be on my own, this time in a completely different way. All I can say is that I am so glad I experienced it, and will be changed forever because of it.
The buses in Ghana are called tro-tros. They are not buses. They are very tightly packed vans on very specific and very confusing routes, identified only by the hand signals of the driver as he zips by. The only way to know where they are going is to get lost, which I did. Many times. However, getting lost helped me find my way. By the end of the four months, I felt as if I had lived in Ghana my entire life. I danced and laughed, travelled 25 hours to see elephants on Easter Sunday, and overcame my fear of spiders. By the end, I couldn’t imagine life any other way. Even now, I sometimes find myself looking out my car window, half expecting to see the Ghanaian landscape unfolding before me.
The most valuable experience I had while I was in Ghana was my time at Future Leaders, a school that provides free education to orphans and street children. The resources they had were few, so when I said I had some teaching experience, they took that to mean that I could lead entire classes, make lesson plans, and take charge of thirty children. I could not. However, I quickly learned. It was easy because my class was happy and excited to be in school. I taught them basic reading and writing, but they taught me so much more. Learning how to handle screaming children was only the start.
People ask me a lot which place I liked better, Greece or Ghana. It’s an impossible question to answer. Greece was paradise. Ghana was amazing. Both were life changing, and helped me realize my passions and develop my independence. Each did so in different ways, but each was equally important.
Studying abroad has given me everything I wanted and then some. I got to explore and eat delicious foods. I discovered some of those elusive parts of the “self” I so desperately searched for. I met some of the best people I have ever known, and had some of the best days of my entire life. Most of all, studying abroad gave me the knowledge that I can do anything. Sure, I still call my mom for advice. Sometimes I even need her lentil recipe. But I know that when it comes down to it, I can not only survive, I can live on my own. What better gift is there?. It’s still extremely scary, especially now as I enter the “real world” outside of Gonzaga. But this time I know I can handle it.