Study Abroad and Domestic Study Away

My name is Ella Manthey and I have been studying abroad in Gent Belgium since February 2023. As I write this, I have just about a month left until I leave Gent and return back to the US. With the semester coming to an end and my travel plans winding down, I have been able to reflect on the time I have spent here in Belgium. Moving here was a big adjustment, it certainly took time for me to get into a good routine with classes and make new friends, but in the end, this has been a great opportunity for me to grow and learn more about myself.

During my time in Belgium, I traveled around the country to other cities like Brussels, Antwerp, Brugge, and Oostende. I really made sure that I made an effort to travel around Belgium as much as I could, I wanted to really appreciate and learn about the country that I have been living in for the past 4 months. Brugge and Antwerp were my favorites besides Gent, Brugge was very old and beautiful and Antwerp is a very vibrant, young city. Other than Belgium I have traveled to France, specifically Lilles and Paris; both of which were very cool but very touristy so they weren’t my favorite. I also went to London, then I visited a friend in Bern Switzerland and we went to Interlaken from there. I did enjoy traveling a lot, I went on some trips with friends but it was the trips that I took on my own that I really loved. I think that has been the best part of this experience; I learned to be okay with being alone and trying new things. The hardest part about being abroad was being so far away from family and friends, but once I got past that and I accepted that this opportunity was one that I needed to make the most of, I was able to grow and become more independent.