There’s nothing quite like the feeling of stepping off a plane in a country you’ve never been and where you know no one to put life into perspective. My initial feeling when I landed in Dublin at 5 a.m. was paralyzing fear as I walked through customs. The unfamiliar is terrifying, but it can also be thrilling and exciting. Stepping out of my comfort zone turned out to be the best decision I made in my time as an undergraduate student at the University of South Carolina. It was only recently, in my Public Relations Management (JOUR 533) course, while discussing Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, that I finally understood what was probably the most the most important thing I gained from my time in Ireland: perspective. It took going to another country for me to gain a better understanding of the big picture of my life and where I want to go. Below is Maslow’s pyramid, along with a brief explanation. Attached at the bottom is a graphic I created hierarchy, along with an explanation of its application to my life.
Keeping Life In Perspective
I already had all of my physical needs, a safe place to live, and a community of friends in a place where I felt like I belonged, much as I did at USC. The base of my period was set. But stepping out of my comfort zone put the world in a different perspective for me, and I believe that’s what really allowed me to begin the journey to the top of my pyramid. When you're plopped down in a new world so different from your own, you can either embrace it or not, and by embracing it I was able to see things differently.
The picture below was taken at a lake in the Wicklow Mountains, just a 20-minute drive from Dublin, and was taken only three weeks after I arrived in Ireland. It’s a simple picture on one of the thousands of lakes in Ireland. Shortly before the picture was taken, I had slipped on a rock, sliced my hand open, and almost broken my camera. Three weeks prior to that picture, I would’ve stressed over the dirt in my cut or the blood on my shirt or the scratch on my camera. I wouldn’t have gotten up and laughed or smiled in that picture. I would’ve gone back to the bus and asked the driver for a first aid kit and a blanket. Every experience, even something as small as slipping and falling, is just a piece of the puzzle. Am I saying that my study abroad trip made me reach self-actualization? Of course not. But I definitely believe that fulfilling one's potential is important, and is what growth is really all about. We go to college, of course, to get an education and to open up windows of opportunity. But isn't education and the acquisition of skills and knowledge, at its core, growth?
“Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a description of the needs that motivate human behavior. In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed five different kinds of human needs, beginning with the most basic: survival. Physiological needs, such as food and shelter, are followed by needs related to safety. Next, there are needs of love and belonging. Fourth, humans have needs of esteem, such as the need for being respected. The final need in the hierarchy is the need for self-actualization (fulfilling one's potential). The hierarchy suggests that basic needs must be met prior to less basic needs; for example, a starving person will seek food before self-actualization.” –Chegg
Perspective, for me at least, has been key in my ongoing journey to self-actualization. I am a planner and a micromanager. I sweat the small stuff and like to have all my ducks in a row. In fact, the hardest part of my study abroad experience was not knowing what every day would have in store for me. The prospect of a break in my routine at USC was daunting before I left. When I was in Dublin, I had to reevaluate who I was and what I knew to make a new life. I had to live like a Dubliner, something I obviously was not, and it gave me the freedom to experience a new kind of life from a totally different viewpoint.
Study abroad is such a unique experience. It’s the only time after your freshman year where you can really take a step back and think about what you want and what your values are. You can essentially recreate yourself, even if it only lasts for a few months. For me, it gave me the opportunity to step away from everything I knew at home—my friends, my professors, my major, my job—and think about what I wanted to keep, and where I wanted to make changes. It allowed me to let people go, reflect on where I really want to be when I graduate. In college, as in anywhere else, it's easy to put yourself in a box and stay within your comfort zone. My box had my classes, my friends in America, my family, and my job. Studying abroad forced me out of my box and allowed me to look at all parts of my life in a different way.
It was while I was studying abroad and attempting to keep up with the election in America while trying to stay current with the political happenings in Europe that I realized my passion for political science and international relations. It’s taken me a very long time to figure out what it is I love to learn about in college, and I don’t think I would’ve realized that this field was what I’m truly passionate about had I not put myself in a new environment. Looking at America as an outsider helped me understand the political climate around the time of the election from both an outsider’s perspective and as an American citizen.
Being so far away from the stressors and problems at home made them seem smaller. Since I've returned from Ireland, I've tried to remember how small these problems seemed when looking at them from afar when I get bogged down with schoolwork and planning my future. Study abroad did wonders for my outlook on life. It helped me to see my potential as a global learner and contributed to my growth along Maslow’s hierarchy.
Study abroad is such a unique experience. It’s the only time after your freshman year where you can really take a step back and think about what you want and what your values are. You can essentially recreate yourself, even if it only lasts for a few months. For me, it gave me the opportunity to step away from everything I knew at home—my friends, my professors, my major, my job—and think about what I wanted to keep, and where I wanted to make changes. It allowed me to let people go, reflect on where I really want to be when I graduate. In college, as in anywhere else, it's easy to put yourself in a box and stay within your comfort zone. My box had my classes, my friends in America, my family, and my job. Studying abroad forced me out of my box and allowed me to look at all parts of my life in a different way.