Lessons Learned from My Passport
My study abroad in Viterbo, Italy taught me several important life lessons. First, I learned how to be present in the moment. I was always the type of person who liked to keep a mental checklist of things I needed to do whenever I went somewhere. This changed on my first major trip with my new friends. Before heading to Rome, I compiled a list of attractions I wanted to see like the Coliseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, etc. However, after we got to the Trevi Fountain, we ended up spending a good amount of time there rather than rushing off to the next attraction like I intended to do. This was due to the fact that it was a tradition to flip a coin into the fountain and make a wish; since it was a very popular thing to do, we had to wait our turn. Previously, I would have felt this was an inefficient use of my time: I would usually just want to take a photo or two and then move on. But being there with my friends and enjoying my time with them made me want to stay. After the Trevi Fountain, we ended up heading to this famous gelato shop and just started casually walking around the city without a goal in mind. We weren’t all that fussed about going to this place or that. We were just enjoying the moment and taking in all the finer details of the city. For example, we noticed the vastly different architecture of the various buildings and houses. It almost felt like we were looking at the past. That’s when I realized you can miss a lot of amazing moments in life when you are always rushing off to the next destination/goal.
Second, I learned how to keep an open mind and not be stuck in one frame of thinking. On several occasions, I discovered that I couldn’t be biased or rigid or else I would not be able to do things I wanted to do. For example, some of my friends got sick and had to see a doctor. I went along to provide moral support. When we arrived at the doctor’s office, calling us shocked would be an understatement. My friends, instead of seeing a primary care physician, ended up seeing the resident gynecologist and obstetrician. At the time, I thought it was crazy to see an OBGYN for general illness, since they would be more accustomed to treating genitourinary problems than a cough or an ear infection and could run the risk of misdiagnosing a patient. However, for the most part the medications and diagnoses my friends got were in line with what they would have typically gotten if seen by a primary care physician. Later on, we learned that if you wanted to see a traditional primary care physician you would have to drive or take a train to Rome to find one. We then understood why the locals were fine with seeing the gynecologist if it wasn’t anything life threatening. This experience taught me you need to adapt to the hand you are given, rather than being adamant on a certain way of doing things; otherwise, you won’t be able to accomplish the tasks at hand.
Last, I learned how not to judge a book by its cover – just because something doesn’t look the way we expect it to doesn’t mean it won’t be good. Case in point was the food I encountered across my travels, which was in stark contrast to what you would normally see in the U.S. For instance, when my friends and I went to Vienna, we ate at this small hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Our server told us that the restaurant’s signature dish was horse meat. None of us had ever seen horse meat on a menu before, and so I gave into my curiosity and ordered it. When the dish arrived, my initial enthusiasm started to wane as the dish didn’t look all that appetizing, but after trying it I was pleasantly surprised. It was really good and ended up being the highlight of my night there, reinforcing the ideas that appearances are often misleading and that you should delve deeper into things before making a judgment.
The 5 months I was in Italy helped me grow leaps and bounds from who I was before I left. Traveling to all these different locations and experiencing all the different locales taught me how to be present in the moment, keep an open mind, and not judge things by their appearance. I believe all these skills help you become well-rounded, because they promote better performance and inspire you to learn new skills. You realize there is always room for growth: There are always skills and lessons to be learned and at no point in life does that stop being true. When traveling, you encounter a diverse range of people and situations, which forces you to adapt and grow. That’s the beauty of travel: No matter where you go or what you experience, it will help develop who you are as a person.
Jerald Novero joined the Interactive Measuring Group in Spring 2021. He is currently an action editor, a poster team member, and an Office project trainer. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences with a Neuroscience minor. He is currently taking a gap year before starting medical school. His goal is to specialize in either orthopedic surgery or trauma surgery and eventually join Doctors without Borders.