Meeting with Old Friends

Guest Post By: Rachel Merrill, a Junior studying Accounting. She is a Global Business Center Study Abroad Scholarship Recipient, and she studied abroad through Foster Exchange at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy, during Autumn Semester 2023.

During study abroad you are thrown into this new environment and need to figure out what to do from there. It is almost very similar to starting college all over again. You need to figure out how to study, how to prepare for tests, and meet new people. It is all very exciting and new. It is hard to ever really feel settled during your time aboard. Since you are only there for such a short amount of time and constantly traveling and trying new things that you have never experienced. However, I was fortunate enough to have a close friend of mine also study abroad in Europe this quarter. This last weekend, she came to visit me in Milan and I was able to play tourguide.

It was fun showing her all around Milan. It was amazing to see how much has changed in my short time here. I remember being so flustered with the public transportation system, but now I was able to take her around and show her everything with ease. We went to the Prada Foundation, ate a lot of great food, went to see the Duomo, and of course went shopping. It was so fun to show her around this city that has been my home the last few weeks. However, talking to her was also such a great reminder of all the amazing people and friends that I have back at UW. It was so amazing to catch up and exchange our feelings about this experience with someone who knows me so well. As my study abroad is coming to an end, it is very bittersweet. I am sad about all the small little things that I will miss about Milan, but talking to her made me realize how exciting it will be to go back to UW with all these new experiences with me.