Another Perspective Purdue students who have studied abroad say the best lessons are provided by exposure to cultures, customs and countries that up until then were available only in textbooks. Her essay is below. She is pictured at top left with friends and fellow exchange students outside the national museum in Barcelona, Spain, and at left below in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. The old adage states that life is a journey, not a destination. As such, life is a set of experiences wherein a person learns, lives and is enlightened along the way.
Some experiences are intense and life altering.
Others merely leave a shadow upon one's memory. In my case, my semester studying abroad in Bath, England, was one of those former experiences, the kind that happen only once in a lifetime but alter the journey forever after. I've never been a believer in the new-age philosophy wherein a person must discover him or herself. I've always thought that I was strong enough to know who I am. It wasn't until I studied abroad when I found that being opinionated and thinking that I knew who I was didn't amount to the actuality of doubtlessly knowing.