The Study Abroad Emotional Curve

My first week in Ireland was filled with ups and downs with adventures I'd never even dreamed of experiencing.  Prior to my departure, my study abroad adviser informed me a chart titled "The Study Abroad Emotional Curve." This helps the student aware of the upcoming emotions that are affixed to studying abroad. 

I did not think too much into it at first, as I had a billion other things on my mind.  When I look back on it, I most likely experienced the entire emotional curve within 24 hours. My Departure from the United States was anything but smooth. Firstly, the goodbye to my friends, family and boyfriend was a lot more emotionally draining than I expected.  Long story short, lots of tears were shed.

My first flight to O'Hare was delayed to the point where I missed my second flight to Heathrow.  My only options were to fly standby on another fully booked flight or to wait until the next scheduled flight at 4pm the next day.  I in no way shape or form wanted to spend the night laying on uncomfortable airport chairs.  Thankfully, in the final minutes of boarding, United was able to get me on the flight.

By the time I got to Ireland I was excited for things to finally go smoothly, but I hit another road bump when the airline lost my luggage. I tried to push all of the negativity aside, falling in love with the beauty of Ireland and enjoyed pleasant conversation with my cab driver.  When I got to my apartment I briefly met my roommates and went straight to bed.  Even though everything was fine and I had arrived in Ireland safely, I just wanted to feel comfortable, yet all I knew was that I didn't even have a change of clothes for the night, I barely knew anyone here, and I didn't even know where anything was in this strange city. What really put me over the edge was when I drank a glass of water, my body completely rejected it. So now on top of everything I was sick. I Facebook messaged my family, friends, and boyfriend feeling pathetic not being excited being in a new country. They managed to calm me down enough to fall asleep for the night, but it was still such a frightening emotion.

So here's the ugly truth: traveling is not as fun as it looks, but once you get to your destination things get better. Studying abroad puts you completely out of your comfort zone and it's hard to get used to things. Yet, having a positive attitude makes all of a difference. One of my friends gave me a good piece of advice in the midst of all of the craziness, "The worst traveling always results in the best trips." The next morning when I woke up, my roommates and I attended our orientation for University College Cork and my outlook changed completely.  My roommates were in exactly the same situation I was, so I didn't quite feel so alone after that. We went to traditional Irish pubs, met new people, and experienced the culture! Ever since then everything has turned around for me and I'm so excited for the remainder of this experience!!

University College Cork (Hogwarts?)

So official

Guinness in Ireland

My lovely Roommates!