Before going abroad, I never thought I would get homesick. There have been plenty of times when I was away from home, even when I first a freshman first semester I did not get as homesick as I did abroad. This was my biggest challenge during my time in-country. Although it did not hit me all at once, this feeling grew slowly, perpetuated by social media. I watched from 3700 miles away as my friends in Pittsburgh experienced things without me, knowing just how much fun I would have had if I had been there to do it with them. At the time, I tried to stay away from social media and instead focus on my schoolwork, which I learned was probably the best thing I could have done. Additionally, I made sure to go around London and spent my weekends exploring instead of being cooped up in my room. Through this challenge, I learned a lot about myself and about the city of London. Foremost, I learned that I was a lot stronger than I gave myself credit for- moving 3700 miles across the world without any family is hard and a huge lifestyle change. Plus, I learned that London had a lot to offer, anytime I was bored or needed something to do, London would always provide the opportunity, I just needed to take advantage of it. Not to mention, I realized that many of the things I learned while in London about being homesick and facing challenges, I could take back home. I anticipate graduating from Pitt and moving on my own will be a huge change to my life and will probably at times make me feel homesick for the life I used to live. However, because I experienced something like this already, I can take my lessons from London and apply it to wherever I end up after I leave Pitt. In the end, if you are a student who faces a similar situation when you go abroad about feeling homesick, do not worry, it is perfectly natural. Just remember, you are in a wonderfully large city with many places to explore and wonder off in- take advantage of it, take awesome pictures to look back at later, and do not get too hung up on the social media of your friends back home because they will all be waiting for you. Live life now and do not take this experience for granted!
Another challenge that we did not anticipate having to face while studying abroad includes the COVID-19 virus. Taking the tube every day, sometimes up to three or four times a day, we were very aware of the danger we faced commuting in such small and easily transferable contact places. Therefore, many places started to practice quarantining their workers, especially those who had just come back from Italy, which affected me as I had visited Italy over our spring break. In the two weeks post spring break and pre-departure from London, I was working from home. As an intern at other jobs, I had very little experience working from home, which was planned out well in advance, so I knew exactly what I had to do to get done when the time came. However, no one saw these measures or the virus coming, so this process was entirely different. However, this gave me an opportunity to not only experience work from home, but also to hone my flexibility skills. I say flexibility as a skill because it does not come naturally to some, especially those like me who like to have a vague idea of what is expected and what is to come when it involves work. Therefore, this experience allowed me to practice patience and allowed me to see just how valuable technology is in today’s working world, something that I took for granted before.