Five years ago, I never envisioned myself wandering by the Pantheon in Rome while the sun was rising.

I didn’t think I would argue about history while sitting in a pub in Oxford, England that C.S. Lewis frequented.

Nor did I imagine I would go hunting ghost in Edinburgh on a very cold and very dark December in cemetery.

But I did all of that and more through the UGA study abroad programs here at UGA. I spent over four months of the last year in Europe as I wandered through London, Rome, Edinburgh, Scotland and Florence, Italy awakening to a much bigger world outside of Athens.

While studying classics in Rome, I determined that Bernini is my favorite sculptor, the Pantheon my favorite building and somehow what each of those Roman emperors did stuck in my head too. I even learned to recognize them by their marble busts.

Then I went to Oxford for classes that challenged me as never before. Now, I look at a UGA syllabus and laugh at the fact that I have to write only one research paper this semester. Over there, I wrote at least one a week while I was.

Was it hard? Yeah.

Would I do it again? Hell yeah.

My time abroad has been the best time in my life. I saw things I had only read about before, and I realized that though the world might seem to have grown smaller with all our new technology, it’s stayed the same size, and it still is important to experience first hand something about which I knew nothing.

When I went abroad, I left behind much that was familiar to me. Sure, my stuffed animal went along, but my friends, parents, home, language and culture were left behind. I found a familiar McDonald’s in Rome, but I still had to learn how to say chicken nuggets in Italian.

The UGA study abroad program forced me to learn to rely on myself. UGA does a wonderful job looking after us students, but it gives us a lot of autonomy that reinforces the reality that we are in college and can take care of ourselves.

If you think study abroad is not for you, reconsider. You don’t have to go to Europe as I did. UGA has more than 90 programs over the globe. You even can go to Antarctica and see the penguins. Trust me, wherever you go, it will be worth it.

Yes, study abroad is expensive, a detriment especially now.

But many scholarships are offered through the Office of International Education.

I have a friend whose scholarships paid for most of her study abroad. They are available, especially if you want to travel to a non-Western country.

Therefore, check out the Office of International Education’s website, www.uga.edu/oie, or go to the study abroad fair on the fifth floor of Tate on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1.

You won’t regret it. I didn’t.

- Elisabeth Ames is a senior from Augusta majoring in newspapers