Reflecting back on my time in China feels pretty overwhelming. If I were able to go back in time to winter 2016 and share all of my experiences with a younger Wasseem, I would call myself crazy. I have been in such a great program for the past three months that I know not only will I miss Shanghai, but I will also miss being close to my now dear friends that I’ve been able to make from across the world. Before I came to China, I reached out to other friends that have also studied abroad and I asked them to reflect on their experiences. Though their study abroad journeys have been completely different from one another, all of their answers came back to a couple of common themes – randomness and friendship.
I hope that by following my journey, you guys have gotten a pretty good idea of who I am as a person. I enjoy the simple things in life like cartoons, sports, people, and music. Before my semester started, just thinking about the transition I would face going from Dallas, Texas to Shanghai made me extremely nervous; that was mainly because I had no idea what I was getting myself into. It’s completely natural to be afraid of what one doesn’t know, but I've always hated the idea of living in fear. I was nervous because of the severe culture and language barrier I would encounter.
