Looking back at the year abroad one year on.

Today I went and spoke to the second years that are off on their year abroad. I felt that it was important to make sure that they heard a balanced view and weren't bombarded with everyone telling them they'd have the best year of their life etc, knowing the pressure that was put on my year group at this time two years ago.

Sitting in that room telling them all about the best and worst things that happened in that year and our top tips for making a success of it really gave me some perspective on the whole thing and realise what I got out of it though.  Being able to look back and see what we each got from the year, what we learnt when we got locked in or had to visit the police station or what we would've maybe done differently really makes you realise how much you achieved in that year! Between us we realised that the very worst bits were also some of the best that made us learn about ourselves or about the language or culture of the place we were living in.

The two things that I wanted to make sure they knew before I left were:

It's your year, do what you like with it! Don't feel pressured into doing what other people are doing and don't compare your year to theirs.  Equally importantly is don't judge someone else's year against your own standards, just because they're doing it differently to you doesn't mean they're not making the most of the year! Just take it as it comes and do what feels right to you, that's how you'll get the most out of it.

Talk to each other, you're part of a great network of people who are all in the same situation. Share your experiences, the lows just as much as the highs and you'll make yourself feel so much better for it. The most viewed post on my blog, still getting hits to this day, is about the worries of the year abroad not living up to the hype that is built around it, what to do if you're not having the best year of your life and why that doesn't matter.  It took me a while into my year to realise this and I just wish someone had told me before, it certainly would've saved so much worry and fuss over the year! This post resonated with other people and I'm so pleased that it is still helping other people that find themselves in the same position.

I'm really glad I went along this afternoon because as well as making sure this years YA cohort knew all the things I didn't it has really made me appreciate my year abroad and what I have achieved simply by coming out of the other end of it in one piece, as well as all the great stuff I did and how much I learnt in the year.

One final note- this time last year I was on an Andalucian beach, today I'm in Lancaster armed with a brolly....