 |
| Emma Ridings Study Abroad Alumnus and Class of 2016 |
Because I decided to go to the University of Arkansas, which
is right down the road from my hometown, I made a deal with my mother: since I
wasn’t branching out with my university choice, I had to branch out while I was
in college by studying abroad (she’s a pretty great mom, I know). I obviously did
not have a hard time accepting this deal. In fact, I went on to take full
advantage of it by studying abroad three different times, and each trip abroad
made a positive impact on almost every aspect of my life.
My freshman year, I saw a flyer advertising an Anthropology
study abroad trip to Tanzania (Anthropology is one of my majors). I immediately
called my mom to tell her I had found my first program, and the following
summer I was on my way to Tanzania.
This marked my first experience in Africa and my first experience traveling without my family. Less than three weeks later, I came back to the United States feeling like a completely different person: my worldview had broadened, my interest in Anthropology had grown, and I had met my very best friend in college who went on to be my roommate for the next three years. This is also when I fully developed the restlessness that I experience on a daily basis because I am constantly thinking about the next place I want to go.
This marked my first experience in Africa and my first experience traveling without my family. Less than three weeks later, I came back to the United States feeling like a completely different person: my worldview had broadened, my interest in Anthropology had grown, and I had met my very best friend in college who went on to be my roommate for the next three years. This is also when I fully developed the restlessness that I experience on a daily basis because I am constantly thinking about the next place I want to go.
Sophomore year, I decided I wanted to go on a longer summer
trip. I knew I wanted to go to Europe this time around, but I didn’t really want
to go to Western Europe since I figured I would be able to travel there later
in my life. I eventually decided on an external program in Prague, Czech
Republic where I would be taking a course on the Holocaust. This program was
wonderful because it allowed me to travel to multiple European countries and
experience a lot of new places in a relatively short period of time. It also
opened my eyes to a part of the world that I had never been to, and I got to
explore these new places with incredible friends that I still keep in touch
with today.
After that summer I decided I was finally ready to study
abroad for a full semester, and I wanted to go back to Africa. I stumbled upon
an external program in Rwanda that focused on post-Genocide restoration and
peacebuilding and needless to say, I was immediately enthralled. However, I was
also extremely nervous. Yes, I am restless and suffer from chronic wanderlust,
but four months away from my friends and family was something that pushed me
way out of my comfort zone. As you can probably guess, by the time my semester
came to an end, I was not at all ready to come back home.
It has been a year since I returned from this trip and not a
day goes by when I don’t think about Rwanda and the experiences I had there.
Aside from making lifelong friends (and I really do mean it when I say
lifelong), it was in Rwanda that I found the career path I wanted to go down.
Before my semester abroad, I did not have any clear ideas about postgraduate
studies or what I wanted to do with my life in general. But once I spent four
months learning about post-conflict restoration, I realized that I had never
been more passionate about anything else I had studied up to that point.
This fall, I will be starting the next chapter of my life in
Washington, DC where I will be a graduate student at Georgetown University, working
toward my Masters’ in Conflict Resolution. If you had asked me four years ago
where I would be after graduation, I wouldn’t know what to tell you (I know
this is true because I was actually asked that many times).
Without study
abroad, I would not have found my best friend, I would not have had the
opportunity to experience different parts of the world, and I would not have
found what it is that I am truly passionate about. So hopefully you believe me
now when I say that study abroad changed my life, and hopefully you can find a
way for it to change yours, too.
--Find out how to join the U of A Tanzania-Ecology, Evolution, and Peoples of East Africa program at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/tanzania
For more about the Rwanda: Post-Genocide Restoration and Peacebuilding program with SIT, check out http://studyabroad.sit.edu/sn/programs/semester/fall-2016/rwr/
-
If you need help getting started with study abroad, take a look at the first steps: http://studyabroad.uark.edu/getting-started/first-steps.php.
