by Diana Crandall
Studying abroad is the perfect adventure for the restless among us. It allows for exploration, to grow disquiet of being stationary; it creates a home wherever one may fall, to cause considerable discomfort.
It allows one to make plans to visit with people that will never meet again, and to fantasize about the countless lives that will remain unlived.
My experience abroad is impossible to explain concisely. I have been studying in London since the beginning of September, and the last few months have gone by regrettably fast.
However, I know that I could not have picked a more electric time to be an American abroad than autumn of 2012, and it added a unique experience to an adventure that is once in a lifetime.
All eyes have been on the U.S, and in particular, the state of Ohio, as the election drew to a close on Nov. 6. “You’re from Ohio? The ‘Swing State,’ right?”
Though an ocean away, the United Kingdom, as well as several other European countries, has reported the U.S. election as fervently as if it were their own.
President Obama and Mitt Romney dotted headlines all across London and Western Europe, with a general favor toward Obama, particularly when discussing healthcare.
Because of raging headlines such as “Twit Romney” and the implementation of the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, opinions toward President Obama tended to be more favorable than his opponent in the mainstream media.
Perhaps one of the most exciting and frustrating experiences of the election abroad was voting for the first time.
I waited impatiently to receive my ballot, and then stayed up late, researching candidates and scribbling in my vote as I debated with my Mom on Skype.
Putting the ballot in the mail and knowing that my voice was heard from 4,000 miles away was a moving experience.
I am ecstatic to be a part of a generation of American youth that wants to make a difference, but extremely bitter that I missed the Election Viewing party in the campus center.
I made up for it by staying up to an obscene hour with my best friend to find out who had won the presidency.
In closing, I would like to acknowledge how fiercely proud I am to be an American because of my time abroad.
Instead of pretending to be Canadian, or allowing people to archetype and bash my country, I have defended it and attempted to redefine the stereotype that plagues our country.
Despite this, I would not change a thing about the last two months. I have been challenged, I have grown, and I have had my breath stolen from me.
I recently heard a quote by Rosa Luxembourg that says, “Those who do not move do not notice their chains.”
I encourage you to move as I have moved. Stand at the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, eating an Italian gelato. Throw rocks from 700 feet in the air at the Cliffs of Moher.
Hike a mountain in Portugal. Drink a German beer in a tent at Oktoberfest. Travel, not simply throughout the world, but into your own.
dcrandal@capital.edu
