The View from Above

As I write this I am sitting on a plane coming home from the greatest adventure I've ever had. I read an article yesterday about the things travel teaches you that college can't. My favorite quote from it was, "Travel can turn introverts into extroverts, bring confidence to the meek, and create adrenaline junkies out of thin air; it pushes your physical and mental limits, forcing you to quickly adapt to uncomfortable and unfamiliar situations." I never knew how true that would be until these 3 weeks. It has done all of those things for me and more. I have gained the greatest gift of all from studying abroad, perspective.

Yesterday as we toured St. Paul's I had chills the whole time. I knew our time was coming to a close and I wanted to soak up every last bit of the place that attracted me from the beginning. On our first day during our tour around the city, we stopped at St. Paul's. This was where I had my first "I'm really in London" moment. At the foot of this iconic structure I realized that everything we were doing was not a dream. Well maybe a dream come true. So yesterday as we climbed to the very top I was struck by the gravity of what I had accomplished throughout this journey. I flew across the ocean, lived in a foreign place, and adjusted to a different way of life. More than that I saw the greatest sites, met people from various walks of life, and learned more than I could have ever hoped. From the top of St. Paul's I looked at the city below and all the memories that were sprawled out before me. A place that was new, exciting, and a little frightening just twenty days ago was now at my feet and no longer the giant city I knew nothing about. It was a place of growth, of healing, and of change for the better. We discussed perspective many times in our class and I finally realized what we had been talking about all along. Perspective is the greatest gift one can give themselves and travel (in my opinion) is the only way to do it. My eyes are open wider to the environment and people around me now. The world isn't such a scary place and it is worth exploring. I am so thankful for the opportunity Tech London has given me and will forever cherish what it has done for me. We talked about how this was more than just a memory and that is so true. This adventure changed me and I'm anxiously awaiting the next one. Although I am currently bound for the states, I left a little piece of myself in London. A piece that will stay there forever.