Returning from Singapore

Flying over Southeast Asia for the last time! Goodbye!

It’s hard to believe how fast five months in Singapore flew by! Some of my best memories from studying abroad were when I took some extra risks. For example, I had always planned to study abroad in Europe; however, just a couple days before the application was due I decided to apply to a program in Southeast Asia on a whim. After returning home, I can truly say that Southeast Asia has exceeded all my expectations and exposed me to cultures that I may have never had the opportunity to see. Another time I took an extra risk was when I traveled alone to Taiwan, only to realize the enormous language barrier present and lack of English speakers. Nonetheless, it turned out to be one of my most memorable trips because of the many locals I had the opportunity to interact with in order to understand a menu or how to navigate the Mandarin signs in the subway. To my surprise, I ended up meeting really friendly locals who usually then talked to me about their families, showed me a nearby landmark, or recommended a place to eat. Through my study abroad experience, I also learned to appreciate the unseen depths of the cultures, environments, and communities that I saw. Although I visited many beautiful mountains and rivers, there was also a lot of poverty in the surrounding communities. I learned that while not every place may be stunning and gorgeous, the places are still filled with people who have incredible stories, beautiful traditions that I may not fully understand, dialects that reflect different cultures merging together in history, and an eternal generosity towards everyone.

Before studying abroad, one of my goals was to get out of my comfort zone. I think studying in Singapore was the perfect place for me because I was faced with languages I had never studied in school before, my roommates were each from different countries, and the landscapes and cultures were so vastly different than anything I had experienced before.