Being abroad by yourself is new and scary. I have learned to embrace it. There are opportunities literally everywhere. I made sure to go after every single one. As soon as I got to Florence, I noticed there were travel groups that marketed towards study abroad students. Since I was traveling alone, I decided to join for a tour to Interlaken, Switzerland. This tour was one of the best weekends of my life. I met new people, went skiing for the first time, and tried amazing new foods.

Being a marketing major, I saw an opportunity to reach out to this student travel group and see if they could hire me as a social media influencer. After a week of negotiating a deal, I was given a personal promo code and the opportunity to travel for free as long as I created content for them on my TikTok account.

I used this opportunity to travel for free to meet as many study abroad students as I could. My TikTok content did really well and some of these study abroad students even recognized me before I could introduce myself to them. I have never experienced a digital community interact in person like this before. I was shocked and honestly so happy because it gave me the chance to create so many lasting bonds with people internationally.

The skills I have gained from this entire experience have set me on a career track in which I am confident and so far successful in. I want to go into brand management and marketing, and work as a social media consultant or influencer on the side. I am so excited to return to the United States and continue growing my skills in this industry!