Studying abroad was never something I thought I’d do. I applied for my program on a whim, thinking “it’ll never happen” until I got the acceptance letter in my inbox a few weeks later. The entire process, from the point when I decided to apply and up until I got back home, felt like a dream. Not in the sense that everything went beautifully and perfectly, but almost as if I wasn’t really there when it all happened. I am a student who struggles with chronic health issues, and it felt a little isolating when I could only find one post about traveling abroad with health issues. It was my biggest concern, and I worried constantly about whether or not I made the right decision for myself.
Would I be able to handle it? What if my health got in the way of my experiences? What if I didn’t perform well in class due to my health issues? What if an emergency happened? Did I make the right choice?
Again, there was little information detailing the study abroad experiences of chronically ill students to use as a point of reference. How could I be sure of anything?
After completing the experience, there were a few things I learned. The first thing I learned is that I wouldn’t trade that time spent in France for the world. I’ve never traveled abroad before and getting to experience a culture that is so different from mine was incredibly enriching; I find myself missing it every day. The second thing I learned is that sometimes, health issues are inevitable. Multiple times throughout the program, I experienced flare-ups of debilitating symptoms that impacted my ability to participate in some activities. Had I pushed myself to try, I would have made it worse. This is a disparity that able-bodied folks can’t really understand; there is significant grief that comes with being limited by your health; by something out of your control.
The third thing I learned is that it’s important to be proud of yourself for how far you’ve come and how far you were willing to go. Even though I had to watch from the sidelines at times, it was comforting to know that I was even there in the first place. I traveled all by myself to a foreign country to participate in intense schooling during what should have been a lazy summer. That’s something to be proud of. If I asked myself a year prior whether I would want to study abroad, I would have said no. It is unfair that some of us are limited by chronic conditions that we cannot control, and that it in turn limits our ability to do the same things as everybody else. You must learn, or prepare to realize, that you cannot compare your abilities to those of others. That’s when the grief will set in, and that’s when the quality of your experience will decline.
Before committing to a program, it is important to consider whether or not it might be right for you. There are some circumstances when disability takes some program options off the table. But more often than not, you are capable of the same things as everyone else, and there are options for accommodations abroad that can help you pick the program you desire. Don’t be afraid to branch out and explore the world while you still have the chance as a student here.
Nothing will go perfectly like a “dream”. But let your study abroad experience be just that; a dream, often a pleasant and fulfilling remembrance of the past.
