One of my friends told me once that the reason that we were able to meet was the fact that the day we met, I walked up to her, concern on my face, and asked, "You look lost, do you need some help?" Picture me with my hands half out in question and that makes up how one of my best friends on campus. While I know that there are few people like me who will walk up to someone simply to make sure everything is alright, this moment of my life shows my insatiable curiosity and care for people around me.
Simply walking up to someone to say "Hi" or ask how they are is something that I do fairly well at and it has made me some great friends, as seen above. I don't know if this method will work while I'm abroad, but it is something that I have done since I started college and I don't imagine I'm going to stop doing so while I'm in Plymouth.
Beyond that, whenever I decided that I was going to Maryville, one of the first things I did once I made my decision was go to the website and look at what clubs are available. I made a list of the ones that looked the most interesting and from there went to the initial meetings to see if they were what I was actually expecting. This is something that I have already started doing since being placed at Plymouth and I have high hopes that I will find people with similar or new interests that I would love to try while abroad. For example, for anyone who knows me they know that I am a huge fan of Harry Potter. While looking through Plymouth's Student Union website, I learned that there was a Harry Potter society that did various events throughout the year. I am excited to say that this is something that I will definitely be checking out while abroad.
Something that I know I will need to be better at will be to simply be where the people are (*insert Little Mermaid reference here*). Instead of studying in my room like I do now, I can try to study in the library and hopefully be engaged with those around me as we stress ourselves into a frenzy. Exploring the city around me during a weekend or afternoon is something that I know will help me to find local landmarks to things I would need to find later like a grocery store.
As far as my day-to-day life, I imagine it will be similar to how it is in the States with a few key differences. Something that I've noticed is that some of the classes end earlier in the day than when I'm used to them ending and there is the possibility for completely free days. Whether these line up with weekends or not is something to be determined, but that, along with the ability to travel to European countries on a shoestring budget is something that I will need to account for. In addition, I will need to learn how to cook something since it appears that Plymouth does not have an "official" dining hall like Maryville does. I am hoping that I won't be living off ramen and take out for months on end, but every once in a while can't hurt me.
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