What has been your biggest takeaway of your study abroad experience?
In the U.S. I had great surprises – the education, university, structure. But this is especially true when it comes to people I met here. I am sure that the best part of living abroad is the connections that we made. Arriving in a foreigner country without knowing anyone opened my mind to discover amazing people and histories. Plus, usually we tend to live every day as one more day, but an exchange program is different: we know that every day is one day less – and this is the turnover to embrace the maximum amount of opportunities. This put us away of the comfort zone. And great things starts to happen.
In one networking event with some words of wisdom a speaker gave me an insight – “Go out there, make efforts to know people, because the entire world is made by individuals – and every person you meet will give you lessons, open doors to opportunities, create bridges to another’s and potentially change your life”
In this year hundreds of people impacted my life. They helped, encouraged, challenged to improve and left lessons. Americans made me feel in home. People around the world shared their opinions and histories. Brazilians made life easier. Professors inspired ideas and to build them. Colleagues showed me the excellency. And there were the ones I bumped by coincidence and changed my life. In the first week in a floor meeting I shake hands with a exchange student from Spain in the same situation as me; then we were the entire year sharing challenges, ideas, classes, networks, events, travelling and planning future business. By confusion I meet a friend from Chicago, that inspired awesome ideas and the research I am working now: an area that I completely love, recently starting in Brazil, which I want to help growing and likely will be the beginning of my professional career. Living abroad enhance the likeness for these situations, because friendships are not about the time but their intensity. Eventually people will come and go, but some of them are always there for us – because we do the same for them.
I met muslins from Pakistan, people from traditional families in China, exchanges students from many places in Europe, from different castes in India, from neighbors countries in South America. They want to be superstars in California, wolves of Wall Street, to create breakthroughs in Engineering or to raise farms in countryside. And I was wondering that at the end of the day, everyone eventually wants the same things – to be happy, respected, cared, to hope for a better future. Beyond superficial differences, people are basically the same in every place of the world. This made me stop judging, listen and learn much more, discover amazing histories and connect much better. Now I believe the world is full of good people. We just need to find them.
Above all the good things that happened in this year I am especially thankful for being in this environment where everyone is really different but together. For sure this will be what I will most miss the most about the BSMP experience. I came alone and I am going back with many lessons and some great friends. They made me challenge my mindset, realize how big the world is and how many things are possible. And of course, my biggest takeaway is true for a lifetime: leave the comfort zone, open your mind, embrace opportunities, meet people – and great things will happen.
-Eduardo De Bastiani
Civil Engineering undergraduate from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).