Hi, senior year. What’s up? I never thought we’d meet like this. It’s surprising, I know, but somehow satisfying. This won’t be the epic battle I expected.
Perhaps it would have been an internal battle. Should I go to graduate school? Should it be law school? Why should I go to even more school? Or maybe it could have been a parental battle, and this version is all too familiar. “Julie, you need to make a decision!” “No, I’m not going to pay for you to train as a trapeze artist, that’s ridiculous!”
Just kidding, I’d make a much better lion tamer.
But back here at good old Binghamton, I find myself facing little struggle at all. Not only have I braced myself for the tears and triumphs of this last college hurrah, I have come to terms with the idea of graduation, of moving on and into an uncertain future.
How in the hell did that happen? Seriously, if you spoke to me a few months ago about life after graduation I would have told you that that was an off-limits topic and to kindly change the subject to, well, just about anything else.
Things are a little bit different now. My extended hiatus from the rain and slush of our beloved and dilapidated city enabled me to clear my mind and find some new perspective. Spending the majority of that hiatus living in Barcelona, Spain didn’t hurt either.
Immersing myself in a different culture, a different lifestyle that forced me to keep different hours, speak a different language and surround myself with completely different people, well, was the best idea I’ve ever had.
It was simply a more relaxed way of life. Classes usually started 15 minutes late, dinner wasn’t until 10 p.m. and there was a nationwide nap time, better known as the Spanish siesta. Who doesn’t love a scheduled nap time? It was a lot easier to take things in stride, make decisions when they were necessary and forget about your problems when they weren’t screaming in your face.
So the return to Binghamton hasn’t been the usual homecoming. It’s been a readjustment. Of course I’m comfortable here. I’ve fallen back into the familiar and habitual routine of class, work and friends. But this year it’s somehow fresher, and the version of myself that would have freaked out about post-college plans and acceptable LSAT scores is instead relishing her last days of frivolous adventures in the Nature Preserve and (somewhat) excessive drinking.
OK, so now that you’ve read all of my silly psycho-babble, you’re probably wondering how this is possibly at all relevant to you or anyone else. What it boils down to is that it’s scarily important for everyone to experience life from a different angle. Studying abroad is the most accessible, and most under-appreciated way to take your life in a different direction, both literally and figuratively.
Putting this in the most cliché way possible, studying abroad will provide you with a different sort of classroom in school and, more importantly, in life.
I’ve said it before and I won’t hesitate to repeat myself. Take advantage of everything Binghamton has to offer you. Join student organizations and study abroad. Go apple picking and visit the observatory. Find your new perspective and surprise yourself.