Community in Study Abroad: Finding Friend in Florence

It’s hard to predict how studying abroad will go. Who will you meet? What will you learn? Where will you visit? You’ll get those answers eventually, so don’t rush it. 

I was able to see six countries and 15 cities, take classes relevant to my major and find life-long friends in the people I was randomly assigned to live with. After only four months, it felt like I had known my four roommates my whole life, or at least my entire college career. 

Studying abroad is an experience no one can truly prepare you for. Even if your friend, sibling or parent has studied abroad before, they won’t be able to convey what the experience is like because everyone sees it differently. Some of us are going to a country that we could find our place in and never want to return to; some of us may want to leave after a month. Some of us travel with a close friend or friend group, some of us go mostly alone. Some of us choose to go for a month and some of us will go abroad for over a year. Everyone has a different reason for studying abroad, whether it's a requirement for graduation or just something they want to experience – I found myself in both categories. 

I studied in Florence, Italy, in Fall 2022. For a full semester I was away from the country I called home, my culture and my group of friends. This was the first time I wouldn’t see everyone again after summer break, and it was concerning. All of the possibilities of everyone leaving you or things changing when you come home will cross your mind from the time you are accepted to the program until the next time you see everyone. Unfortunately, there’s no way for anyone to get those thoughts out of your head except for you; try not to worry so much. 

The great thing about leaving the familiar is that you are forced to adapt. I say great in a somewhat sarcastic way – it's actually terrifying, but it's just as exciting at the same time. You don’t have the people you’ve known to fall back on and you can’t ignore or not notice the people around you. Being forced to meet new people is good for you, especially coming out of such a digital and reserved world. I haven’t really “needed” to step out of my comfort zone and meet people; it’s all been by choice. 

Now, it’s a lot of pressure to go meet people but it's easier than you think, especially when studying abroad. You already have something in common with all of your peers being away from home. Whether you want to use that as a stepping stone to jump into talking or you have something else in common, there is a potential for conversation. Maybe you have a mutual friend at home you could bond over; maybe you’re from the same state, maybe you’re the same major or maybe have a few classes you can talk about. You could even just tell someone you like what they’re wearing and keep talking from there. Everyone else is just as anxious about starting up a conversation as you are, so they’ll most likely be thankful you did it. 

On top of having to meet people you may have never spoken to, you may have to meet roommates you’ve never seen before. This is going to be the case for almost everyone studying abroad. Unless you have between four and eight friends going with you, you’re probably not going to know all of your roommates. In Florence, apartments can range from two to eight people, so if you only have one person you want to live with, there’s a good chance you’re going to meet some new roommates as well. This is an integral part of the experience, as it opens you up to new groups of people and opportunities you may have never had. In my case, my apartment was five girls who all put no names down for roommates. This is a relatively uncommon occurrence, as many people will meet someone before leaving so they have at least something in their power. For many, this option alleviates some of the anxiety about meeting and living with new people – at least you have one familiar face in your apartment. I didn’t know how to go about doing that, so I figured I’d go random and see where I got placed. It worked out great for me. We were all immediately able to bond about not knowing anyone on the trip, as well as all of us being fashion majors and being in a new country. 

As the semester progressed, we all found our own friends outside of the apartment. Some overlapped and some didn’t, and our social circle blossomed. Some weekends, we would all go out together on the weekends and meet other Kent State students. Other times we would all go on separate weekend trips, but even then we’d all come home Sunday and tell each other what we were up to. We did our homework together in the dining room and talked about what we missed from home. We dealt with breakups and laughed about them later. The craziest realization at the end of the semester was that we had all only met four months prior. Within days, it felt like we had known each other for far longer. Even with our differences in lifestyle or interest, we built what I considered a community. And we never would have known each other in the same way if we hadn’t gone completely random in our roommate selection. 

Even if you have friends going with you, that doesn’t mean you can’t meet new people during your time abroad, you just need to be more intentional about doing so. Keeping yourself shut off from new friends could be the worst choice you make. You never know who knows who or what; maybe you befriend someone who could get you your dream internship. You’ll never know what potentials are in store until you unlock them. 

There is a whole group of people out there for you when you study abroad, so unless you already know everyone there, make an effort in those first few weeks to talk to new people. If you don't do it in the first few weeks, make it the first month or two. You never know what  community is out there waiting for you.