Well, I think it’s finally time, folks…
Tonight was the study abroad fair here at BC, where the youngins go to talk to students about their experiences abroad in hopes of finding the perfect program for them. After two hours of talking about Parma I am so emotionally drained (words from my friend Jing, who lamented from across the aisle at her Hong Kong booth).
You see, the real problem with studying abroad is when you come back home. People expect you to act normally and be the same person you were before you left, when in reality, that’s just not a possibility. You learn so much studying abroad that you can’t fit it into words or describe it to other people who haven’t been. It can’t even been described to people who have been. Usually the conversations about study abroad end after listing off the places you visited because you get too wrapped up in the memories and wishing you could live every single moment over again.
And that is why I have postponed this final blog post until now. Because I want to cry just thinking about it all actually ending. Even though it technically ended exactly 9 months and 1 day ago. Here come the tears…
Study abroad was the best time of my life (so far, at least). The rush of complete independence and self-reliance is exhilarating. Getting lost in foreign countries is my new favorite pastime. Weekend trips in countries where I don’t speak a word of the language creates moments of genuine panic, pride, freedom, and complete happiness unlike anything else I have experienced. There is nothing that can compare to being 19 or 20 years old and navigating your way through an entire continent so far away from home.
Which is why I told every single student at that study abroad fair tonight to go. Go anywhere. Study anything. Do not graduate college without going because there might not be another chance to live in a foreign country again.
As it is, I love being back on the BC campus. I missed football games, friends, family, and Boston a lot while I was gone. There still isn’t a day that goes by without me thinking about Italy, though. A year later and I can’t manage to change my computer background to anything but the Cinque Terre.
My only solace comes from the fact that I have thousands of pictures and memories to look back on with great fondness, to hold me over until I return to Europe again…
L to R: Caterina (one of my Italian mommies), me, Anna (my Italian grandma)
the whole Parma family together for our final goodbyes
Adventures with Alyssa 
Thank you for placing what I am feeling in to words I was incapable I forming. The way you summed up the emotions, the exhilaration, the uncertainty, the change and the growth … It was spot on, concise and powerful. The younglings need to read this. I can not agree more with every word you said Alyssa!
Wow Alyssa, so eloquently put. I am so proud of you. Your experience and especially your true understanding of the depth of your experience and how profoundly it impacted you is spectacular. You are truly a special person with layers and depth that we only have begun to glimpse. I love you and you go girl……the sky is the limit for you!!