The crowd roared and leapt to its feet — well, at least our section did. The noise and energy reverberated through the stadium as the human wave circled the field. Though we were all exhausted from our early morning drive and a goal had yet to be scored, the overwhelming excitement coursing through the stands was contagious, so we kept our eyes glued to 22 yellow and blue figures below us as Colombia faced the U.S. women’s national soccer team in an international match. The Americans won 3-0, and my friends and I had a wonderful — if brief — visit to our nation’s birthplace, complete with Philly cheesesteaks in front of Independence Hall.
The idea for our jaunt to Philadelphia was born a few months ago when, while avoiding homework, I found myself scrolling through the schedule on the U.S. soccer team’s website. When I saw the weekend game with Colombia, I immediately texted three of my friends and asked them to accompany me. I’m glad they agreed, because in a month I will be taking off on an adventure combining research and study abroad which will keep me out of the country for a year, so I’m currently scrambling to savor all the time I can get with my friends. In many ways, my trip to Philadelphia made me more excited to set out on my journey, as it gave me a taste of the many adventures waiting for me an ocean away.
It seems like study abroad trips are constantly on the minds of college students. Even if we’re not on another continent ourselves, we all have the opportunity to live vicariously through friends spamming our Facebook feeds with picturesque European landmarks or breathtaking South American mountains. The description of the study abroad Facebook album becomes a growing list of cities they’ve explored. As I scroll through their photos, I feel a sort of restlessness, longing for the adventures that being abroad can provide. However, the weekend left me questioning whether or not being physically abroad is actually necessary for having those types of experiences.
When we study abroad, we make a commitment to be somewhere for a set amount of time. We go into the experience knowing we have a limited number of days and weekends to see everything we want to see, so we take advantage of opportunities accordingly. This turns into mid-afternoon wanderings within our home city or midnight trains and buses across the continent to see a different one. When we are driven to seek out adventure, we find it, and that leads us to incredible, unforgettable moments. The truth, however, is that we can do that very same thing right here in Charlottesville.
No matter where you’re from, you can treat going to school at U.Va. like a four-year study abroad program. Coming here as a new student, you are forced to navigate an entirely new world with little to no prior experience to guide you. Just like if you were in Valencia or Shanghai, there are so many places within a couple hours or just a few minutes waiting to be explored. Even if it’s more than a single semester, you still have a finite amount of time here in Charlottesville and its surrounding area — whether that’s D.C. or Philadelphia — and I urge you to take advantage of them before it’s too late.
Of course, college is about more than roaming around — we have classes, clubs and any number of other responsibilities to worry about. Not every weekend can be dedicated to a new city, nor should it be — that’s a recipe for exhaustion, not enjoyment. Taking a few bigger trips like mine to Philadelphia is fun, but it’s even better to incorporate this philosophy into your normal routine. Planning on spending your day in the depths of Alderman? Check out a new café downtown instead. Going out to dinner with friends? Eat in a totally foreign neighborhood, not on the Corner.
The mindset we adopt when we step foot in another country is perfectly applicable here at home. They key is to view your time here in Charlottesville as finite and precious, just as you would during a semester in Berlin or Buenos Aires, because it is. Our days here are numbered, but if we treasure each moment and explore the area like we would a foreign country, we’ll leave it with very few stones unturned.
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