Global Correspondents, Semester Abroad A New Life

University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Mariana is one of the Semester Abroad Global Correspondents writing and sharing her experience abroad during the Fall 2021 semester. Follow along with the group of correspondents on our blog and look out for their images on the @pennabroad Instagram feed. 

I was not expecting study abroad to change me. I don’t mean it in an entitled way or worse, apathetic sense. But I had been abroad already. One of the reasons why I love my Penn education so much and will forever look back on it so fondly is that on top of everything — it has been global.

I had my first internship experience in a small town in Northern Portugal and enrolled in an intensive language summer program in Russia. I went to the Czech Republic for a class, only to discover a few years later that I had a peculiar but undeniably strong interest for medieval history that started right there and then -- my sincere gratitude to the Russian and Eastern European Studies department. Not to mention being an international student at Penn.

How could three months in Scotland fundamentally change me? Let alone a little bit more than a month here. But this experience has been new. From the day I arrived, it felt different. 

I can say that it proudly took me three days to get my new life in Scotland sort of together. The initial list involved anything from buying a towel, so I could shower, to getting a new sim card and a pan for the kitchen. I was used to the process. Somehow, through the years, I had figured out a system to move quickly and lightly from one place to another. Things like “never forget a pillow cover” and “bring postcards to make it personal” were top of the list. If you are curious, a pillowcase will prevent you from sleeping without one the first night (just fill it in with your bulkiest sweater). Yes, even if you were smart enough to ship one, because sometimes the package room is inconveniently closed by the time you get there. It also serves as an emergency laundry bag.

The point is — this was a bit more challenging than that. I realized the extent to which I was in for a fun ride when I had to ask myself: When do I start classes? Which ones? Hold on. Where is the school? It took me about a week to find out exactly where it was — I am still a bit confused. In a matter of three days, I went through what it felt like were my last three years at Penn. New sim card (beware, if you are getting a new phone number, you are in it for the long ride). New dorm. New friends. New education system. New city. New lifestyle.

Three months is just enough time to warrant the creation of a new life. Long enough to make it worthwhile. But short enough to keep you on your toes. In a way, it felt like I stood there. The brush in my hand and a blank canvas in front of me. And a timer behind.

It struck me as one of the most staggering and shockingly beautiful aspects of studying abroad. One that nobody told me about. The fact that it often feels like a randomized controlled trial. And I get to experiment with it each day. What would happen if I finally had the time? Would I book a trip to a new city every weekend or am I not really serious about it? If given three months, who would I want to form a lasting connection with? Would I want to meet people very similar to me, or hang out with friends who are more extroverted? What about finally redefining my personal style? Or learning how to cook.

When the time is up and I head back, I will have tested some of my longest standing of hypotheses. And in doing so, I will have opened even more possibilities for the life I truly want.

Let’s just ignore the fact that I am a horrible painter.