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by Morgan Taylor-Cohen (UC Los Angeles)
On choosing abundance and positivity instead of fear and uncertainty

After living in the same town my entire life, I found myself in a city roughly 5,000 miles, or almost 9,000 kilometers, from home. With my checked bag in one hand, my carry-on in the other, and a backpack, I was a sight to see as I disembarked the Elizabeth train line in London.

The classical cobblestone streets looked magical … and also soaking wet!

I was exhausted and jet-lagged after an 11-hour flight. Dragging four wheels and my own two feet, it was a much wetter, more vibrational experience than I had imagined my arrival in London would be. I felt my not-at-all-waterproof sweater sticking to my arms and knew my blonde hair was turning deeply brunette from the pouring rain.

I thought, “Do I laugh or cry right now?” This was not how I wanted to meet the people I would spend the next three months with!

Arriving

Luckily, I was the first to arrive at the apartment—henceforth called our “flat”—and in the first moments of quiet, I started to register the gravity of the moment. It was a new chapter in my life with so many experiences waiting, but how would I find my way?

I pushed down my fear and uncertainty and decided at that moment that this would be a trip of abundance and positivity. I would choose to be excited and laugh at every possible moment, even at the craziest times.

Yes, it’s a sappy thing to admit, and it worked!

As my flatmates slowly began to arrive, each tumbling into the warmth and out of the brisk weather, I could see they were also choosing happiness. They swarmed into the flat one by one, dragging half of their belongings and grinning joyfully.

As we all settled in that night, everyone piled into one room and opened a new, shared 11-week spreadsheet of experiences. We weren’t about to let a single moment go to waste!

Weekend trips

Almost immediately, we began scouring Google Flights, yelling out the best weekend trip deals we could find: $28 to Lisbon, $36 to Belgium, and $15 to Milan! Our cursors danced around the spreadsheet as we input travel plans and mapped out weekends.

We guarded half of our weekends for travel within the UK, which left us four international trips to Amsterdam, Budapest, Dublin, and Valencia. Though we had just met hours before, there was an aura of bubbling possibility and shared wanderlust in the flat. And we were ecstatic!

Local discoveries

Throughout the weeks, many more spreadsheets were made, cataloging restaurants, neighborhoods, and sights we wanted to see and enjoy. Slowly through our shared experience abroad, we made each of them a reality.

Ironically, what I relished the most were the unexpected discoveries—like stopping in a café on the list only to find an amazing hidden bookstore on the canal around the corner. The blend of curiosity and desire was the perfect recipe for making each day magical.

Hard moments

As you may have expected, being abroad in London had some tough moments. The overwhelming amount of paperwork was an absolute headache. Facetiming home was never enough to emulate spending time with family and close loved ones. In a city like London, you had to be careful too! Two of my roommates had their phones stolen right out from under their noses. Additionally, some of my new friends were international students who were applying for jobs they could start after their time abroad, which added to their stress.

Over the program, I sensed in all of us an underlying sense of gratitude and appreciation. To be in an incredible city, to have each other, and if anything, to be living the best stories we’d bring home to share after every miserable moment we faced.

New beginnings

I celebrated my 20th birthday blowing out a candle on a cake in our 8-person hostel room on a weekend trip to Valencia, Spain. We spent the evening sipping sangria, tasting tapas, and dancing our hearts out by the beach. In that moment, I’ve never felt so loved by a group of friends that I’d only met weeks ago, in a city I had never been to, with a new decade of my life just beginning.

I was glad I’d chosen to be boldly positive and focus on abundance because those qualities proved to be the pillars of my study abroad experience.

So, I ask you, dear reader: When you picture studying abroad, are you excited or terrified? Do those feelings make you want to laugh or cry? Are the challenges you may face big enough to overcome the rich experiences you could have?

I urge you to choose optimism, to expect and look forward to the unexpected, and be prepared to have an experience that surpasses your imagination.

Who knows? You too could find yourself soaked in the cold and rain in London one day and somehow end up sipping sangria in Spain the next!

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Morgan Taylor-Cohen

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