When abroad, your time in a new country should be organic and personalized, not warped by the consequences of violent and irregular events. It may give you some heightened anxiety, but you can't let it ruin your trip. No one can expand their perspective of the world if they are afraid to explore. Going abroad is about accepting and interacting with a different culture. And that should be the main goal of your experience no matter the circumstances.

What would we Iowa students do without our precious syllabus week? It is the only week out of the semester where we are nurtured back into the swing of attending classes. For those students who choose to take classes during a winter or summer term, syllabus week is a false promised land. My first week at University College Dublin was still nurturing even without a full syllabus week. Here are some of the biggest lessons I learned coming into a summer program abroad without having a full week to adjust.

It hasn’t even been a week here in Dublin and I already feel… to be honest I don’t know how I feel. Contempt, scared, badass? Does the feeling really matter though? Everyone who goes abroad for the first time goes through a mixture of emotions that has us all reeling on our heels, grasping for holding points. For me, this trip is about pushing against the boundaries of my comfort zone, which are about as widespread as jail cell bars. This is the point in the trip where orientation has happened, I’ve explored the city with my 16 great new classmates, and I’ve gotten my bearings.

There are firsts for everything. Whether that's a first day of college, of being away from home, of feeling at home, there's always a time you can pinpoint these moments in your life that change you. Over the next six weeks or so, I'll be experiencing an entire novella of these kinds of moments.

My adrenaline is spiking as I make final decisions on what to take across the world. Is it weird if I still want to bring my blankie? How many pairs of jeans do I pack? Why do all of my socks not have matches?

Staring blankly up at the ceiling of a French hospital, I distantly understood that I was in trouble, but could find no words to explain how I felt. Speaking in French to explain my situation to the doctor was impossible, as I was no longer sure that I could speak any language. Time moved differently, jumping back and forth between clear memories of before the accident and the fuzzy, confused reality of after. My head felt eerily empty, quieter than I had ever experienced it. I had a vague sense of who I was- I knew my name, at least- but could not understand how I had gotten to be in this state.

I just left my home away from home. I woke up the last day of my program. I admittedly had been pretending this morning would never have to come. I had 24 hours to submerge myself as far as I can in the beauty of what is San Ramon Costa Rica.

Here’s some eggs for your gallo pinto - ¡Buen provecho!” I glance at the time on my phone… 6:15AM. Time to start my day. 

If you think about it, every single action you know how to do…you used to have no idea how to do it. Getting gas in your car, registering for classes, writing an essay, all these things used to make you squirm with discomfort. But too bad - sometimes you just need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

My week begins with class in the afternoon after lunch. Unlike Iowa we have blocks of time for class every day: 8-11am for the morning block and 1-4pm for the afternoon. What more could a science major from the University of Iowa ask for than a late Monday class and no classes on Friday? It is one of the many gifts of this abroad experience. When I’m not in school my free time is completely filled with other activities.

Life’s most special moments often imprint in our memories like Chinese calligraphy ink on rice paper. The past few days, much ink flowed as I re-discovered memories of the past at Tianjin University of Technology (TUT), the place I spent the summer of my twentieth birthday. In 2015, I was one of seven University of Iowa (UI) students who were hosted in TUT for two months as part of a ten-year language exchange program.

My free time looks a bit different than that of a student studying abroad. For my student teaching semester, I teach English as a Second Language (ESL) in an elementary school Monday - Thursday from 7:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. and Friday from 7:30 a.m. - noon. Moreover, my social circle includes my host family and the teachers with whom I work. Thankfully, I have been blessed enough to make some great friends with various other teachers my first two weeks of teaching and have already had many adventures as a result.