Have you ever spent seventeen hours on a Flixbus at the Port of Dover? Sat under the northern lights after an Icelandic man pulled your car out of a snow patch? Stayed in the apartment of a man named Jose in Barcelona with a cat named Lucky and a dog named Candela? Hi, I’m Kersey and I had the privilege of traveling to twenty-two countries over the past twelve months, all thanks to the beauty of study abroad.

My Lovely Leiden Loves

While attending Universiteit Leiden, the oldest university in the Netherlands, I studied in classrooms where brilliant minds like Einstein and Oppenheimer once taught. Navigating the Dutch education system proved challenging, yet I soon became accustomed to the art of field trips to naval bases and cheese cities. With a major in Political Science and my GLI theme being Culture & Politics, I took courses like Europe’s Armed Forces & Societies and Dutch Topical Debates to truly dig deeper into the European identity. My life became a routine of bike riding, canal sitting, and stroopwafel eating. I celebrated an array of holidays from Leiden Ontzet, a three day festival where the entire town was converted into an amusement park, and King’s Day, a weekend getaway to Amsterdam canal chaos. As the months passed and I adapted to my newfound Dutch identity, I began to take note of the lessons I could bring back to Montana — such as the ban of plastic bags, the intricate bike lanes, the constant availability of public transportation, the encouragement of youth to live with the elderly, the allowances towards child care, the joy of leaving work at work, the intensive welfare state, and the outward tolerance of other cultures.

My 21st Birthday & Leiden Ontzet with the Dutch

My Korean roommate and I spent our weekends using Skyscanner to locate our next destination, from Belgium, Germany, to the UK. I traveled to Palermo to watch a marathon, Basel to view Swiss architecture, Paris to reunite with my mom’s host family, Rome to take a gander at the Sistine Chapel, and Athens to pet the cats. I skied in the Alps with my parents, took night Flixbuses across Central Europe, toured Copenhagen and Lund under the guide of my Swedish mate, got annihilated by the surf in Spain, ventured all the way over to Taiwan (for free), roadtripped across Wales and Scotland, and painted like Monet in Normandie. I enjoyed Hungarian baths solo, moved from hostel to hostel in Interlaken, ate perogies in Krakow, and fully embraced the art of delayed or lost transportation.

The MOSAIC Taiwan Fellows

I discovered the simple reality that humans are humans and we tend to overcomplicate it. Developing close relations with individuals from all across the globe challenged my preconceived notions and stereotypes, leading to intensive dialogues about who we are as people at our very core. Strangers became my friends who became my family. My heart aches knowing that we may never see each other again, but I am grateful that our paths crossed. As I sat in my last course, I looked around with nothing but appreciation that we all ended up together in the same place at the same time.

The Scottish Jolly In the Background | Bella Reunion in Barcelona | Lost on the London Tub w/ Eun Song

I will forever remember the nights spent at cold train stations with Eun Song, the late runs to Wong Kei’s for authentic Chinese food, the smell of Kibbling on a Saturday morning, the feeling of riding down Leeghwatertunnel on rainy afternoons, the rush of my Flixbus arriving at Station Victoria, the Remi situation that seemingly never ended, and the nerves of saying goodbye. I encourage all to go abroad, not only for the places and sights you’ll see, but for the people who will alter the course of your lives. Cheers to the last twelve months and all of the lessons it gave me, even the endless backache from lugging around my Ryanair-friendly backpack across half of Europe.

The Infamous Ryanair Bag | Mid-Term Getaway to London | Icelandic Natural Spring Shivers