I know it is pretty clichéd to talk about how a trip abroad completely changed your outlook on life or gave you some great personal insight, but I would be lying if I said it wasn’t true. This trip has challenged me in many ways and pushed me pretty far out of my comfort zone, leading me to accomplish things I had never dreamed of before. I am way more confident than before, both in my physical abilities and my academic abilities.
I have never been the most athletic person, in fact I have terrible hand-eye coordination and trip over air all of the time. For a while, I would avoid activities with my friends that involved some type of physical activity because I was afraid that I would not be able to do it and completely embarrass myself. However, this whole trip has consisted of hiking up and down steep mountains, hours of manual labor, and a lot of swimming (which is one of the few activities I was actually fond of), and I have managed to keep up with the group and really enjoy myself. I am constantly amazed at the things that I think I won’t be able to do yet end up doing, like climbing up slippery, wet rocks at a sulfur spring while barefoot. And while I have fallen many times in this past month, heck I’ve fallen many times just within the past 24 hours (don’t worry mom and dad it’s never been anything serious!), I have learned that the adventure is worth the risk and the thrill you get from doing something challenging or a little scary is so rewarding.
I am also more confident in my academic abilities. I used to always think that everytime I said something it had to be correct or I had to know the correct answer. I would sometimes hesitate to talk or ask questions in class for fear of looking stupid. This experience has shown me that it is more than ok, it is expected that we don’t always know the right answer. No one knows the right answer all of the time, even Professor Howe will sometimes say that he is not sure the answer to a question. Within the field of archaeology, each day you are finding new evidence (like more walls!) and you have to constantly be taking that evidence into account, which means changing your hypothesis and admitting that what you originally thought was incorrect. Almost every other day my Unit partner and I were re-evaluating what we thought the structure was or wasn’t, how old the walls were, what the purpose of the structure was, and so on. I feel much more confident in sharing my ideas now, knowing that the next day or even an hour later new evidence can be presented which may prove me wrong.
In general, I would have to say that the biggest lesson I learned on this trip was the further out of your comfort zone you push yourself, the more you grow as a person and the more fun you have.