Hello again and welcome back to my blog! Being abroad has allowed me to practice many skills that I would not have been able to in the classroom. Soft skills are very important in the business world, but are also some of the hardest skills to teach and practice. Being in the south of France, I am exposed to many different cultures, and communicating with everyone can be a challenge. I am fortunate that I can speak French and English, but this is not enough to communicate. This challenge has improved my communication skills, as I have to be extremely clear in order to understand what others are saying to me.

The second skill I have learned here is flexibility. When traveling , something is bound to go wrong. Before this trip, I was someone who needed to be in control of what was happening and where I was going. For example, I am currently on spring break in Spain and Portugal, and the metro car in Lisbon broke down on the track, and caused us to miss an event we had planned. If this happened to me before studying abroad, I would have been extremely anxious and a mess. But because of that incident, we were able to explore a part of the city that we never would have otherwise. 

One of my worries about studying abroad was not being able to make friends, especially when it came to cross-cultural boundaries. In my experience, I found that being nice, curious, and open is all I need to make lasting connections. Now I have a group of really close friends from France and the United States who are making my time here better. I can transfer this into the business world through partnership and my relationships with my future coworkers. 

Studying abroad has expanded my soft skills through communication, patience, and building relationships, but the most important aspect of study abroad is it widens my view of the world. I am seeking out experiences I never would have been able to have in Pittsburgh, and learning these skills will allow me to become a better person and to thrive in the workplace. I have felt myself grow into a more complete person while I have been in France, and I know that if I were to talk to myself freshman year, I would be proud of how I have been able to develop through studying abroad.