I am happy to admit my approach to new experiences did not change when I finally started my classes at MSU. In fact, my experiences on the trip even has encouraged me to achieve one of my main goals for college in my first semester, and provided me with the motivation I need to stick out difficult situations. Furthermore, I would have found myself too intimidated by the challenge of adjusting to a new job, life in the dorms and difficult classes.

Before going to South Africa, I would not have had the confidence or determination to handle the challenges I have faced this semester. Studying abroad helped me become better accustomed to handling foreign situations and new obstacles.

Prior to traveling abroad with MSU, the closest I’d come to experiencing a foreign culture was Spring Break in Mexico last spring.

I was so nervous about what to expect out of the trip. I had never been away from my friends and family for more than a week at a time. I was about to be disconnected from them for two and a half weeks.

Whenever I told people I was going to South Africa, the first thing they would ask was, “Are you going to live in huts and see lots of animals?” I honestly did not know what to tell them because I was so unsure of what the trip would be like.

But instead of focusing on my nervousness once I got to Africa, I chose to let it go. No use dwelling on silly negative feelings when I could be out having enjoying new experiences.

Now that I’m back, there isn’t a week where I don’t tell someone about the trip or think, “When can I go back?”

I think about it often, but not because I feel unhappy at MSU. It’s that studying abroad is the type of experience that changes you if you let it. And I definitely let it change me.

Before studying abroad, I was not one who would take chances or go out of my comfort zone without fear of failing or of something going wrong.

While on the trip, I was the complete opposite. I learned more about myself in that short amount of time than I have in my entire life. I ate meals I couldn’t pronounce. I hiked up a trail to the top of a cliff and looked over the side at the ocean below me. I went on a safari. I even walked past Nelson Mandela’s cell at Robben Island.

I made a couple of silly mistakes, too. When our group got off the plane in Johannesburg, we were those “dumb Americans” who accidentally gave our luggage to strangers and got tricked into paying money so the strangers would load our suitcases onto our bus for us.

I got ripped off the first few times I tried to barter. And I know I got screamed at by three police officers at a rugby game for trying to exit through an “entrance only” hallway while looking for food.

Memorable adventures and small mistakes, I look back on all of my experiences and smile. But the little stories aren’t what I’ll cherish most about the trip.

What I’ll always remember is that I embraced South African culture and made sure I was present throughout the entire trip. Nothing was able to bring me down on that trip. I was in Africa for what might be the only time in my life, and though at times things bothered me, I never let them get me down.

That meant I refused to let myself be shy or negative. I asked questions about aspects of South African culture I did not understand. And I made a point to get to know all of the students on my seminar. I’m happy to say that today the people I met on my trip are some of my closest friends.

Throughout the stressful process of getting used to my new classes, a new job and living in a new place, these people have been my family. Now that I’m back at college, they are the ones who remind me to be myself.

Rebecca Ryan is a State News staff writer and James Madison freshman. Reach her at rebryan2@msu.edu.