Home Can Be Anywhere

During my sophomore year at Chapman, I eagerly planned to study abroad with one of my close friends in the Fall of 2024. Study abroad was always part of my plan; the idea of immersing myself in another culture was incredibly exciting, especially with a friend. Over the next few months, we discussed our hopes for the semester abroad and predicted what it would be like. However, my friend eventually decided that studying abroad was no longer in the cards for her. Though I wasn’t upset with her, I did feel a bit disappointed; it meant that I’d be moving to a different country for 4 months without knowing a single person. It didn’t stop me from committing, but I still felt a wave of anxiety as my departure date approached. It helped that many of my friends had studied abroad before me and I’d heard about countless positive experiences, but it still felt daunting. 

September of 2024 approached, and after spending a few weeks in Orange with my friends, leaving felt extra difficult. I’d just made so many memories to kick off my semester, and now I would be sacrificing time with my roommates to be somewhere with zero connections. As someone with a huge fear of missing out, I briefly considered whether or not I was making the right choice. How would I leave all of these people and events and places behind? However, I packed my bags, boarded my flight, and anxiously awaited landing in Seville, Spain.

The second I opened the door to my apartment, I saw Addy, one of my roommates. She smiled at me, and I felt instant relief. We introduced ourselves and had a brief conversation before I began unpacking in my new room. Later that night, we explored our new home for the first time, settling on a random spot for dinner and practicing our Spanish with the waiter (who was very patient). That night, wandering Seville, I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Over the next few days, my other three roommates arrived: Talia, Jayda, and Nikki (who also attended Chapman). Each of these girls became a close friend to me as the semester progressed, and I made memories with them that I will always cherish. We spent hours shopping, trying tapas, going to classes, and traveling on the weekends together. My roommates became family to me, a home away from Orange. During my semester abroad, I traveled to over 15 cities, rode a camel in Morocco, visited a Spanish music festival, took field trips with my study abroad program, met up with my family, and learned so much about different cultures.

Though I initially felt nervous about leaving my life behind, studying abroad helped me learn that home can be many places at once. Living in Seville taught me to learn a city inside and out, gathering intimate knowledge of the streets, the best places to eat, and the local slang. Looking back, the decision to study abroad alone was the best decision I could have ever made. As someone who has struggled with anxiety my entire life, something like this might have seemed impossible to me a couple of years ago. However, studying abroad allowed me to gain independence and an immense amount of confidence. Seville became a part of my heart, a place where I discovered so many people and things to love. Talia and Jayda attend Cal Poly, and Addy attends Colorado State, so after returning to the U.S. we were all able to reunite during a weekend. We frequently exchange pictures of our time abroad in our group chats, and call each other whenever we want to catch up. Even better, Nikki goes to Chapman, so we’ve met up several times and always excited to run into each other around campus. It’s easy now for me to gush about my study abroad experience, and I find any excuse to bring it up in conversation. Had I not chosen to go alone, I would have missed out on some of the best times of my life. Overall, I learned that while familiar can be great, the unfamiliar can be just as good – if not better.