Across the Pond: Day 22: Friends

Three weeks ago, I was very excited and nervous to study abroad in London. I really wasn’t sure what to expect, and didn’t know whether the experience would match my personal goals. Even more so, I didn’t really know anything substantial about the individuals that were going along with me on the trip. This was added to the fact that I was going to be the only male in the group of 16 other participants.

When I found out in early May about being the only male participant, it was a culture shock. I have always been fortunate enough to have a mixture of female and male friends and colleagues. Even in my undergraduate years I joined a co-educational fraternity because I couldn’t stand the idea of being surrounded by guys everyday. On the other end of the spectrum though, I have to admit, I have struggled at times during my graduate studies as I found myself being one of only 2-3 males in classroom settings. It’s easy to forget the discomfort of others when your part of the majority. Given this information, you can see why I was slightly hesitant to find out our classroom demographics. Don’t get me wrong, I pride myself in connecting with individuals and having good interpersonal skills, but there does come a point where I need some guy time.

You can be assured that all my worries were put to rest within the last 3 weeks. Not only did I make some amazing friends, but also I really received some amazing inside knowledge into the world of women. And all of this happened while taking in some cultural values across the pond.

I really appreciated the diversity of individuals in our class. Many people think of diversity as physical characteristics of an individual (which are valid) but often overlook the diversity of opinions, backgrounds, and interests. Our class really excelled in this remark. I really felt everyone that I spoke to (which is everyone in the class) brought some interesting perspective to the activities, places, and projects that we completed over the course of the three weeks. I found myself asking some individuals about the historical context of Les Miserable, while asking others about their favorite football (soccer) team, and still others about their involvement with ALA. I really connected with people on different levels, which is the environment I enjoy the most (and based on the Meyers-Briggs Personality test).

I know I made some friends that I will continue to connect with for a long time. I’ve already spoken to a few classmates about next year’s ALA in Las Vegas (which is going to be amazing). The FSU London experience was unforgettable primarily because of these individuals. Although I think everyone was very awesome, I wanted to give a special shout out to Jessica, Keila, Katie, and Melissa for making me feel at home away from home, making some great memories, and giving me the inside scoop and a crash course on women. These lovely ladies rock my socks. I learned and took a lot of educational, social, and practical experiences from London, but perhaps most importantly, I think I came out learning not to be hesitant of getting out of my comfort zone. It also doesn’t hurt to have met some amazing people either!