I spent 4 months studying abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark. During this time I was lucky enough to immerse myself into Danish culture, explore Copenhagen and other parts of Denmark, and travel around Europe.

Before I left for Copenhagen, I was petrified and I had no idea what to expect. I was incredibly anxious and second-guessing my choice to leave Denison and my friends for an entire semester.

While there were many ups and downs throughout the semester, I broadened my perspectives and learned a lot about myself. By the end of my semester abroad, I became the epitome of the joke "abroad changed me", because it truly did! I had amazing experiences I never thought possible such as ice fishing on a lake in Finland, met so many great people, and became a much more confident and independent person.

So, here are the top 7 things I learned from studying abroad!

1. Cooking for Myself

Prior to studying abroad, I could make a total of three meals: pasta, avocado toast, and quesadillas. I had never really grocery shopped for myself before either. So when I moved into my apartment in Copenhagen, I quickly realized that I needed to expand my skills, meal prep, and make grocery lists.

I never thought I would say this, but I really began to enjoy cooking for myself. I became more confident in my abilities to cook different vegetables and meats.

The image to the right is from my final flatmate dinner. We cooked together a few times throughout the semester, and in this meal I learned how to pan-fry fish!

2. Traveling by myself and with friends

Traveling on your own and with friends is completely different than traveling with family. I had to learn how to plan trips, navigate airports, use public transportation, make Airbnb/hostel reservations, and deal with all the "fun" things that arise while traveling.

I took my first solo trip to Prague in March. I had never taken a solo trip before, and it was definitely the most independent I have ever been. I spent the weekend exploring Prague by myself, and it was really nice to pick and choose what I wanted to do without needing to consult a larger group.

On a different trip, on the other hand, a group of us missed our bus from Berlin to Copenhagen, and we had to take 4 different trains to get back to Copenhagen hours after we were supposed to. It was a mess. Oh the joys of traveling!

3. Managing Money

Copenhagen is an expensive city, and spending adds up quickly. The same goes for traveling. Even though the flights are much cheaper, the prices of public transportation, meals, and activities adds up as well.

DIS provided us with a stipend for groceries, so I learned to eat at home as much as I could. I saved money instead for going out to eat for when I was traveling. And instead of going out to dinner, my friends and I would make dinner together, and I packed lunch on days I could not eat at home between classes.

I learned to take advantage of student discounts on museums throughout the city. On some days during the week certain museums had tickets that were free or reduced price. By looking those up in advance and planning, I was able to save money while still immersing myself into the culture. The image on the right is from the Thorvaldsen Museum which I found by looking up free museums in Copenhagen!

4. Making New Friends

I was really nervous about making new friends abroad. I only knew 2 other people I was going abroad with, and at the time I did not know them very well. I quickly learned that making friends abroad was a completely different experience than making friends at Denison.

DIS Copenhagen doesn't have a real campus, and everyone lived in apartments or in home-stays all around the city. Since I lived in an apartment, with 1 DIS roommate and 3 flatmates who were students at other Danish universities, I had to learn how to make friends as one would do in the adult world. Unlike Denison, my friends did not live in the room down the hall or a max 10 minute walk across campus. I usually had a 20-30 minute commute to class, downtown, and friends' places by metro.

I had to learn how to make friends in a completely different way than I ever had before. I was so used to hanging out with friends every night watching tv or doing homework. This shift was probably one of the biggest adjustments I had while I was abroad, and definitely one I was not expecting. However, it benefitted me immensely, and enable me to gain more confidence in myself and in my friendships.

5. Independence

Learning how to be independent was one of the biggest and most important lessons I learned from abroad. For the first time in my life, I lived in an apartment in a city with a commute to class and to see my friends.

Also for the first time in my life, I had no extracurriculars and very little schoolwork. I had so much free time to explore the city and get to know myself better as an independent adult.

I became much more confident in myself and learned more about myself in those 4 months than I ever had before. It felt so freeing to pop in my Airpods and take the metro or bus anywhere in the city that I wanted to explore, and not feel self-conscious about being by myself.

6. School is important, but it isn't everything

My classes at DIS Copenhagen were unlike any classes I had ever taken. Every Wednesday we had "field studies" with one of the classes we were taking. Every student had a "core course" which was your main focus for the semester. My core course was Child Development and Education in Scandinavia. There's a core course week where everyone explores other areas of Denmark with their class, and each core course goes on a long study tour to another European country. My long study tour was in Finland, where we spent the week learning about how and why the Finnish education system is ranked the best in the world.

My classes did not count towards my GPA at Denison, and I had minimal schoolwork. However, this enabled me to enjoy my classes even more because I was simply there to learn, not to just get a good grade. The interactive and experimental education approach of DIS, and in the Danish education system in general completely changed my view of schooling and the unnecessary lengths students go to to get good grades and "be successful".

7. The importance of studying different education systems

One of the main takeaways I had from my time in Copenhagen was from studying and observing the policies and practices of the Danish education system. I thought that education systems were pretty similar across different countries, but I was wrong. The Danish education system has very different fundamental values of socialization, student well-being, and creating active democratic citizens for society.

As someone who is preparing for a career in elementary education, I learned how immensely important it is to learn about other ways of educating students. Focusing on the teacher-student relationship for student well-being and building a strong community of students are values that I would not have learned in the U.S. education system as it focuses on academics and grades over students as human beings. I am determined to take what I have learned from the Danish education system and implement it into my teaching pedagogies.