Friday, February 17, 2017

Education Outside the Classroom

Thankfully, today I took my final exam, and am almost officially done with the "school" part of this trip. School has always been my thing; I'm an honors student with a great GPA who is thrilled to take 8am's and soak up all the knowledge I can.

But the two classes I took here were a real struggle for me. It had nothing to do with the classes, the professors (Dr. Miller was the best ever!!), or even the work load.

I think for the first time, I truly realized that my education (in the classroom) was not the most important thing. And that made it so hard to focus on the school work.

It's strange to think you would find that on a study abroad trip, but I think I really realized that there is so much more to our trip than "studying." The most influential, inspiring, challenging, truly educational parts have been outside of the classroom.

I have had to have difficult conversations with the customer service representative of our housing when I felt like my needs weren't being met. That kind of cross-cultural communication in practice taught me so much more than my textbook did. People do not always respond the way you expect them to. I did not feel comfortable or confident in my communication skills at that time even though I knew what the textbook says I should do. But now that I have experienced it, I have learned for next time.

I have learned how to communicate with professors and other students. I have learned how to reword and restate my questions or comments in ways people with different perspectives can understand. I've learned to really listen to people to try to understand them better.

I have met so many people from different nations that I now know about not only Australia but Holland, Russia, China, New Zealand, England, France, Canada, Japan, Jordan, Portugal, and Germany. I learned more from the real people than I ever could have in a class.

And all of these lessons never felt like school or studying. I didn't even realize what was happening until it was over.

I am now so excited to continue on this journey - especially my internship. I am so excited to work with the women of HerBusiness. I think this will be the perfect internship for me, and I know they will teach me so much more than I could ever learn in the classroom.

Everyone needs this experience. It is so amazing to experience all that you learn in a classroom and explore even more. I am so excited for next years cohort because I know they will have a great time as well. A big thanks to UT for giving us this opportunity because it has made a world of a difference for me!

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