As my time in Denmark comes to an end, I look back on the great friends and lasting memories I made with happiness and a tinge of sadness, but I also look to the future with excitement and hope. Before coming to Copenhagen, I knew I wanted to live abroad for at least part of my life, and this past month has only served to strengthen that resolve.
Thinking back to the week prior to my departure from America, I remember I was nervous. I thought, “What if I don’t make any friends? What if I am alone the whole time?” And that was what I was preparing myself for. Boy, was I wrong to worry about that. I couldn’t have asked for a more incredibly fun, supportive, and caring group of friends than the ones I was lucky enough to meet.
I have Copenhagen and my friends to thank for the changes I saw happen in myself, and I consider them all good changes. I’ve discovered that I like meeting new people. I like hearing others’ stories and I enjoy talking to them. I didn’t use to consider myself a very chatty person but I’ve found that I am. I am much more confident going to unfamiliar social situations now.
I’ve also found that being in Copenhagen – a city I had never been to before four weeks ago – has helped me be less afraid to put myself out there in situations I might be uncomfortable in. I endured a lot of trial-and-error before I finally got comfortable in Copenhagen. But I did it!
And I am so thankful that I made the choice to study abroad in the summer, an opportunity that wouldn’t have been available to me – or at least would have been much more difficult to deal with administratively back at my home school – without DIS.
Here’s to the memories and the friends I’ve made, and here’s to Copenhagen! Hopefully, I’ll be back.