"I recently came back to the States after spending Spring Semester in Perth, Australia, as part of the 'Early Childhood Education Program.' My friends asked me 'How was Australia?' I replied with a shake of the head and a large smile, 'It was amazing!!!' I proceeded to babble on about the million pictures I took and to tell, in full detail, stories of my adventures….like how I encountered a reef shark in the Great Barrier, held a baby Koala, kayaked in Gulf of Thailand, or rode a camel on the beach. However, I got the feeling that my friends and family just didn't get it. They had no idea what it was like to live in a foreign country, to be away from your family, and to take that step outside and to realize that there is so much more to life than what we are given and what we do on a daily basis. I realized that no matter how much I talked or shared with my friends, not until they traveled themselves would they understand how I now felt and the person that I have now become.

Since none of my friends understood my time abroad, I have a special bond with the other MSU students who participated in the same program with me. We are our own little sorority. The four of us entered Australia together, lived together, took classes together, and left together as better people. When you have people around you that you are comfortable with, it allows you to take more risks and step outside of what you are used to. It was a great relief to have other people make the same blank face as you when you were watching cricket on the television, who understood what it was like to be sick in a hut in Fiji, or who also had tears streaming from their eyes as our journey ended.

By meeting others, eating different food, and pushing myself to do try things that I typically wouldn't try, I learned more from any textbook or any lecture. I have become a much more open, relaxed, and adventurous person due to my time in Australia. If you have the chance to study abroad, take it and don't look back! And take your friends along, it would be good for them too!"