After the whirlwind of adventures that came with studying abroad last semester, readjusting to life in Texas has been challenging, to say the least. When you’ve spent months on what feels like another planet, half of the battle that comes with returning home is the fact that everything you’ve just experienced can feel impossible to put into words. While there’s something special about the memories made and challenges faced being entirely yours, it can feel isolating when everything you wish to express about your new life has nowhere to go. That is, when there’s no one to relate to about the little things, whether it’s the sights and smells on your commute to class or cultural quirks you were fond of, it’s challenging to convey much about your time abroad beyond the fact that it was “fun” or “the coolest experience ever.” 

I’d endured this internal conflict off and on in the past three months that I’ve been back, often wishing I could literally share my brain with my friends and family when talking about my months away. This was the case until I had the chance to connect with TLU junior Ashley Macasadia, who’d studied abroad in Athens, Greece during the fall semester of her sophomore year. Luck would have it that she, too, took classes at the same university that I had through the same study abroad provider. Between similar first impressions of the city, nearly identical reactions to landing in Athens for the first time, and a shared appreciation for Parisian culture, it was a bit surreal to really talk about studying abroad.  

A long-time fan of the film Mamma Mia!, Ashley always knew that she simply had to see Greece one day. It would only be a matter of time before she was on a tour of TLU and caught sight of the Greek flag flying high in Tschoepe Hall, where she realized it was not a question of if she would study abroad, but when. As a new student, gaining more information about studying abroad through FREX and by communicating with Charla Bailey allowed her to get a start on bringing her dreams to fruition. Before long, the spring semester of her freshman year had arrived, with much of it spent navigating the student visa process, applying for a passport, and getting her parents on board with the idea. Always a spontaneous and adventurous person, the utter excitement she felt about the possibility of finally seeing Greece and guidance from Charla Bailey made this process feel seamless (though she often found herself thinking it all seemed too good to be true!).  

Before she knew it, it was time to leave the United States for the first time. Unlike the experience of most study abroad students, Ashley’s mom was able to join her in Greece for the first two weeks of the semester. Despite initial concerns regarding the high prevalence of graffiti in Athens, it granted her mom some peace of mind to really know and be able to see where exactly Ashley would be for the next few months. Thankful for the wonders of modern technology, being able to remain in communication with loved ones was essential for Ashley’s own peace of mind, especially coming from a very tight knit family. It made all the difference to know that everything back home was going smoothly, from her brother’s senior basketball season to updates on her one-year-old niece/Goddaughter.  

Throughout the beginning of the semester, from the first car ride to her apartment to initial explorations of the city, Athens was nothing like what she’d previously envisioned. When we hear “Greece,” it’s typical to think of white-washed buildings and endless blue oceans, though these mental images are only characteristic of a handful of islands making up Greece’s diverse landscape. In reality, Athens is a very busy and exciting city, with pockets of beautiful forests and historical sites coexisting with hectic streets and tall buildings. Yet, Athens was exactly where Ashley was meant to be at that time. In her six-person apartment in this otherworldly place, it was only a matter of time before she began to feel more at home, allowing the months before actually returning home to fly by. Additionally, with all of her classes only taking up two days of the week, she had plenty of time to adjust to the Athenian lifestyle and really get a feel for what this part of her dream country had to offer.  

Alongside ten other girls in her program’s cohort and wonderful on-site advisors, exploration was prominent beyond local outings and excursions to places like Delphi and various islands. Ashley says that the weeks spent away, made difficult by bouts of homesickness and the struggles of being in a different time zone, truly allowed her to find herself as a person. Growing up in the same space all her life, only having herself to rely on to make decisions and navigate her “new normal” granted the space to re-evaluate past notions about her identity and worldview. Ultimately, she could more easily defend and live out what aligned best with her most authentic self, using the image of her “true colors” being able to come out. Even adapting to new dynamics, like getting to know people from different parts of the world or working around conflicts with her American cohort, now makes it much easier for her to collaborate with the different ideas and personalities of others. Outside of Greece, trips to Paris, France and Basel, Switzerland provided experiences that have further rooted her in the person she is and shaped her ever-evolving perspectives on life and our global community. She feels that all of this, alongside just being a more open person since returning, will benefit her tremendously as a future educator.  

On that note, returning to Texas came with a lot of different emotions, though she remembers initially being on cloud nine during the first weeks back. Given that she’d returned a few days early to surprise her family, all of the excitement that came with that experience and joy of the busy holiday season allowed her to “hit the ground running.” However, when it was time for the spring semester to begin, she was confronted with the difficult reality that she was really back. In her Cross-Cultural Reflections class, which students who study abroad for a semester are required to take when they return to campus, it was a challenge to relive and share such pivotal moments in her life. Even nearly two years later, she faces waves of time where it’s hard to look at photos from her trip or reminisce too deeply on those memories. While she’s excited for the next chance she’ll have to return to her host country, she anticipates the tourist experience feeling bittersweet.  

Additionally, she remembers it feeling a bit odd to come back in the middle of the year, having missed an entire fall semester and needing to play catch up with her friends. As each semester comes with different courses and routines, personal change is also inevitable from one to the next (regardless of whether you study abroad or not). Coming to terms with the fact that she was not only different, but that her friends were too, presented another temporary hurdle for Ashley. However, her time in Greece solidified the fact that there’s nothing she can’t do, and that remaining patient would be essential for readjusting to university life. Looking back, she says that while all these things made her sophomore year challenging, she wouldn’t trade any of her experiences for the world. Had she not gone to Greece, she wouldn’t have learned some important life lessons that she continues to carry with her, and she knows she can’t lose herself now that she really knows who she is. She would encourage any college student to take this leap, while making the most of their time away and always remaining open to change. Even if it seems that there are a lot of logistics to initially work through, and the process itself is not without struggle, you just have to do it.  

Furthermore, when reflecting on what she now considers having felt like a bit of a fever dream, she’s grateful for the ways both the wonderful and difficult opportunities she was presented with evolved her relationship with God. Her international faith community made not only the hardships of being away feel a bit lighter but was paramount in providing a sense of peace for the challenges in Ashley’s personal life during that time. The experience of hearing other testimonies and really seeing positive Christian influences outside of the United States was incredibly moving and eye-opening for her:

“Hearing not Christian talk, but Godly talk in my ears and in my soul; that refreshed me. Like, to know that there were people out there that love the same Jesus that I love… it was just so amazing and so nice. I knew that God was with me at that moment because I was like, yes, I’m going through all of this. Yes, these are my circumstances right now. But I know I have You. And through the rest of that, the rest of my time, I was like, okay. I’ll be fine.” 

Even if only in her mind, standing on the deck of a wooden ship piercing the waves of the sparkling Aegean Sea, while actively thinking “I’m literally living my dream,” remains an unforgettable memory from Ashley’s early days abroad. It was nothing short of a perfect, serendipitous moment, and her younger self could be assured that it’s as beautiful as she thought it would be. Beneath a bright sun and with a sense of eagerness for all that had yet to come, sailing to a Greek island for the first time marked the start of what would be a deeply important chapter in Ashley’s life. It was only fitting that ABBA’s “Mamma Mia” was playing from the speakers onboard.