written by Nicole Tonas
Everyone else was strolling around in cute flats and stylish high-neck coats, sipping cappuccinos like they belonged in a Florentine magazine, while I was over here in my beat up Adidas Sambas and my puffer jacket from high school, feeling like the least fashionable tourist in the city.
That pretty much sums up what it felt like arriving in the last group of my study abroad program. I’m here for 11 weeks, which in theory was fine, but actually showing up weeks after everyone else? Completely different story.
My program offers 18, 15, and 11 week sessions. The people I met enrolled in the 18 week session, who arrived 7 weeks prior to me, especially already have their lives together. They completely knew the lay of the land, already having established their favorite cafés and could go grocery shopping without spending an extra 30 minutes translating every single item. Some of them even picked up basic Italian within the first few weeks. Meanwhile, I was dragging my suitcase around, double checking Google Maps every two minutes, and still somehow managing to get lost.
My first week was honestly kind of overwhelming. Everyone else seemed so comfortable, like they had already figured everything out. They were talking about weekend trips they had already gone on and all their traveling experiences, and I was just sitting there confused, like it was a completely different language. I felt like I had missed the beginning of a movie and was trying to piece together the plot without asking too many questions.
Even classes felt like that. People already knew how things worked, what professors expected, and how assignments were structured. I was just trying to keep up, not sound completely clueless every time I had to ask a question, and pretend that three hour classes were nothing new to me. It’s a weird feeling, being new when most people aren’t.
But at the same time, being late in a way forced me to notice everything more. Since nothing felt routine yet, even the smallest things stood out. The way people take their time with coffee instead of rushing out, how the streets are always kind of busy but not chaotic, and how satisfying it feels to finally recognize where you are without checking your phone.
And the small wins? They felt huge. The first time I went to the grocery store and actually knew what I was buying because I had added my favorites to my weekly list. That was a relief. Successfully ordering food without overthinking every word. Remembering how to get to class without maps. Those moments made me feel like I was slowly figuring things out, even if I started behind everyone else.
Socially, it definitely took more effort. I had to be intentional about talking to people before class, asking questions, and putting myself out there because I didn’t want to feel like the newbie still stuck in the homesick phase of study abroad. But people were more open than I expected, and once I stopped overthinking it, conversations started to feel a lot more natural. Now that I’ve been here a few weeks, I don’t feel as out of place anymore. I’m not fully caught up in the same way as the people who have been here since the beginning, but I don’t feel lost either. I have my own routine now, my own favorite spots, I’ve been on my own trips, and I have a better sense of how everything works.
Starting late didn’t ruin my experience, it just made it different. If anything, it made me more aware, more independent, and more willing to put myself out there. I had to figure things out quickly, but in the process, I’ve learned a lot more than I expected to in such a short time.
So yeah, starting a study abroad program later than most of my peers wasn’t the most ideal way to do it. But it’s kind of like being thrown into something halfway through, you’re confused at first, maybe a little out of place, but eventually, you catch on. And once you do, it actually feels pretty rewarding.