Opportunity is a funny thing. Sometimes, it comes when we least expect it. Like a missed shot by your opponent in pool. You may not have expected the person you are playing to miss (unless you are playing me), but they did and now you have an opportunity that you did not expect to have. So what do you do? You take that opportunity and make it yours.
Other times we expect for opportunity to be ahead. Like an extra credit assignment that you are expecting the the professor to announce soon. You know the opportunity is coming, but you are just waiting to see exactly what it is. And what happens when he or she informs the class? You take that opportunity, and you make it yours.
I am coming up on the final days of an opportunity that I have made my own. With just 23 days left to go here in Sydney, I can without a doubt in my mind say that this has been an experience and an opportunity of a lifetime. I have learned so much about the world, the people who call it home, and myself in general. It's tough to fully describe the experience as a whole since I am not quite through with it yet, but when I make it back to the States in a couple of weeks, I'll make sure to sit down with another blog and give everyone a full wrap up of this experience. However, I am ready to give some advice. So here it goes.
College is such a transformative time. It's constantly a barrage of new faces, new places, and new things going on. But just like anything, we find a way to find our comfort in our college experience. Easy Chick-Fla trips. Free and unlimited wifi. A car nearby to go anywhere at a snap of a finger.
And there is nothing wrong with those things. Believe me, if I could hop in my car right now and head to Chick-fla I would. But what is the challenge in that? It'd be easy, normal, and routine to do something like that. But what about hopping on a train to find this Portuguese chicken place that you keep hearing locals talk about? Or how about hopping off the wifi for a little bit and heading to the local market to see what awesome stuff that people from all different cultures have brought in?
So to the current or future college student, my advice to you is pretty simple. College teaches you so much in the short four years spent in undergrad. But one semester studying abroad can show you so, so much. Going abroad challenges you to step out of that comfort zone like a semester at home just can't simulate. You learn how to communicate cross-culturally in ways that you didn't think you could, even in predominately English speaking countries. Trust me, Aussies are hard to understand at first.
You learn how to work differently abroad. Expectations are very different in the workplace, in the classroom, and in other things as well. And you know what, that's alright. It's a challenge most assuredly, but why not embrace it? My Australian history class might possibly be the hardest collegiate course I have ever had. And I am probably not going to need Australian history at all in my work field. But I am a better student because of those expectations being challenged in the classroom. Just as I am a better worker for my expectancies being challenged in my first five weeks with the Sydney Blue Sox.
And lastly, you learn how to live differently abroad. No short five minute drives to Chick-fla. American food isn't sitting at every corner like at home. Grocery shopping is different. Living spaces are different. To be honest, 90 percent of the things that are familiar at home are different. But guess what? That's the fun part.
So when I said that advice was simple, I really meant that. So to the current or future college student, here is my advice. GO. Go for it. Embrace the challenge. Spend a semester or even a mini-term doing things differently. Because you know what, different experiences are just fine. And that's what new places, new things, and new people give you. So when that opportunity comes, don't let it run by.
GO
Cheers,
Jonathan
**By the way did I mention that you get to see views like this?
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