Semester abroad is like freshman year, but better

Jennifer Goodwin
The Mirror

Many of us at Regent's have slowly begun to realize that our time here is almost up.

Once April rolled around, I noticed that there are only a few short weeks left in my study abroad experience. With this in mind, it seems that everyone here is trying to soak up as much of London and Europe as possible.

Some people are jet-setting furiously, while others, including myself, are spending plenty of quality time with new friends lying around enjoying the surprisingly nice weather in London.

Take last Saturday for example: I believe I had the quintessential college experience.

My day consisted of sleeping in, eating lunch with the regular crowd, playing outside in the sunshine, then lying in the grass for hours listening to David Maxson on the ukulele and Frank "Catfish" Cutie on guitar.

We embodied the scene that I had in my head when I came to college freshman year.

This sparked the discussion of how study abroad is quite similar to the freshman experience, only much better.

First, you are in a new place, even if it is just on a new campus or a new town or state. For us, we decided to move across an ocean.

Second, you encounter all new people and find it necessary to make new friends with those in your classes or those with whom you live.

This brings up another similarity: You live in the dorm. For Drury students, the experience of triple rooms with communal bathrooms at the end of the hall is totally foreign and yet another aspect to which you must adjust.

In addition to these, as a freshman and as a study abroad student, you have a newly discovered freedom and independence.

As a freshman, you are away from your parents and you have the typical 'college experience' in which you want to partake.

While studying abroad, you are not only really far from your parents, you are also magically legal to go out and enjoy London's nightlife, which turns out to be far superior than that of Springfield.

Finally, as a freshman or a study abroad student, as you sit wondering where your year went, you are either ready to head back home for the summer and some free time, or you are very sad to leave your new friends and be bored as you live in your parents' house once again.

The latter holds true for many here at Regent's; in just a few short weeks, we will all be back in the States, wondering where the days of lying in the grass in Regent's Park have gone.