April has finally arrived, and I have fewer than 40 days left in Italy…what?! I swear, I feel like it’s January and I’m packing my bags for four months abroad. I’m blessed beyond belief with how this semester has gone. So far, I have been to Venice, Padua, Nice, Marseille, Barcelona, Monaco, Florence, Rome, Pisa, Athens, Santorini, and now I’m on a train to London for the weekend! I’m amazed at how everything has worked out with my time abroad, and can’t wait to see what this last full month will hold for me.

Knowing that my time in Arezzo is dwindling down quickly, I am consciously taking moments to reflect on my time here. Have I grown in ways that I wanted to? What lessons can I take back home to Norman with me? I am still blown away that I took the leap of faith to come abroad because there were numerous obstacles in my path. Not many people have the opportunity to leave for a semester, so I will always be grateful for this time away. Throughout this entire journey, the one thing I have learned is my resilience towards anything that comes my way. The power of having dreams and goals is nothing if we don’t strive for them. Our dreams are important to us, and we must always do what we can to make them a reality.

Life in Italy has been full of great opportunities for me, but there have also been some downfalls. I am incredible tough on myself, and always strive to meet perfection. Whether that is with school, planning my travels, or anything else having to do with life abroad. Learning how to be flexible has been my own personal obstacle to overcome but I am a better person because of it. When people mention that you’ll learn a lot about yourself when you are abroad, they are definitely not kidding! I feel as if I’ve only scratched the surface of all the many more lessons to come.

If you, or anyone you know, ever has doubts about studying abroad……GO. Even if you think that it will be an impossible feat, or you don’t think that you have the courage to do so….STILL GO. The mentors and adults in my life always tell me that their number one regret is not studying abroad when they had the opportunity to do so. Who can say (with a straight face) that they regret spending their time abroad?! ABSOLUTELY NO ONE. There are definitely aspects I would have done differently, but this experience is something I would never want to change. Plus all of the traveling and amazing food I have gotten to eat doesn’t hurt nearly as bad. There are people around you who can be a wealth of knowledge, and can lend some support. And if you are reading this, I too, can also help in any way that I can!

Sigh, now it’s off to a few more adventures before I cross the finish line (a.k.a coming back to Oklahoma). I promise I won’t post TOO many pictures, so that no one gets overly jealous.

Ciao bella!

Blessing Ikpa

The University of Oklahoma ‘16

Criminology & Human Relations