Making My Study Abroad Family

By Jennifer Gormley, Foster Undergraduate who participated in an exchange with the University of Mannheim in Mannheim, Germany.

Studying abroad is a huge choice that you make. For most it is the first time leaving the country or being away from family and friends for an extended amount of time. It can seem intimidating not knowing where you are in a country with a language you don’t even speak and you ask yourself what type of people will I meet? Will I make friends along the way? What will my roommates be like? And I think that those are things that will change many minds about going abroad. I want to share my experiences with some of the most amazing people that I have met and who happen to be my roommates.

When I first arrived in Germany it was definitely different than Seattle and the first person I met was my roommate Alan, it was besties at first meeting. He was new to Mannheim as well and is one heck of a character. A couple days later we got our other roommate Catarina and she fit right in. We have done so much with each other from movie nights to traveling to different countries and have learned a lot about one another along the way. They quickly became my new family over here and my study abroad experience has been so amazing because of them.

My advice is to go abroad you will meet the most fascinating people who you will keep as life long friends.