A single moment of courage is all it takes to face the “unknown.” That moment can be days, hours or even 20 seconds, and no matter the length, the decision is difficult. The familiar is easy, comfortable and soft – like an old couch or a well-used pair of shoes. Did you ever wonder what those battered shoes were before? New. Those shoes were foreign objects until use and love took their toll.

For many of us, the University of Oregon is a family. From the famous sprint into the Autzen Stadium to the awkward silence that hovers in the Knight Library, this campus is home – safe and familiar.

My advice? Leave. Find that moment of courage, step outside Eugene, and travel somewhere new.

If it is at all possible for you, please study abroad. The funny thing about a well-loved pair of shoes is that they stay used. Campus stays the same. You can, and will, come back.

The benefits of removing yourself from this environment are endless. In three months abroad I learned more about who I am and what really matters than during the years spent in middle school, high school and college combined. It is fun, exciting, challenging, exhilarating, sometimes sad and always eye-opening. The only way you’ll fully understand is by discovering your own moment of courage and taking that leap of faith.

You can take it or leave it, maybe tell me I’m crazy, but here are a few of the lessons I learned on my adventure:

1. It is a journey of self-discovery
I studied abroad for a myriad of reasons. Curiosity urged me to uncover the secrets that this world harbors. I wanted to see the world, but during my travels I recognized I wasn’t just seeing the world. I was on a journey of self-fulfillment and realization. In placing myself in a completely foreign environment I was forced to be brutally honest with myself and in doing so I became my own best friend.

2. We worry about the same stuff
Love, diets, relationships, fitness, body image, family, politics, happiness and career aspirations – you aren’t alone with these struggles. They affect every human being no matter what culture or country you are from. It’s easy to feel like you are the only one that worries about what people think of you or are striving to find happiness. Whether you are from America, Italy, Ireland, the North Pole or anywhere on the globe, we are more similar than different. People are people.

3. Technology becomes secondary
Unless you have an international data plan which can still prove to be difficult, the internet and social media are used in brief periods of time. It’s beautiful. My phone became my camera and in not worrying about the next text message or my friend’s Snapchat stories, I fully reveled in the sights and people around me. Without the cushion of scrolling through the internet, I wrote, read and talked more. I filled two journals while I was abroad and had to basically re-learn the true and messy art of face-to-face conversation.

4. It’s okay to relax
As a daughter of America, I grew up believing in busyness. Run there, play this, lead that…a constant stream of activity. If I didn’t have an around-the-clock to-do list, I was lazy or lacking in motivation. An Italian told me that they believe time is in the hands of fate. The future is a force that no one can control and upon that realization, you can begin to live directly in the present; the moment. One day, you’re going to look back on your life and wonder where all that time went. If we keep our focus on “that next thing,” time for ourselves and one another will cease to exist.

Everyone who has studied abroad has a different story to tell, and that is what makes the adventure so inspiring. It’s a time in your life when only you can truly understand the impact of what you experienced.