Megan Wing: Life in Vienna

A major learning experience and place of personal growth while I have been in Vienna thus far comes from living by myself. Yes I have roommates but one is from Turkey and doesn’t speak any English and the other is from Hong Kong and her and I rarely cross paths with our busy schedules. It is the first and probably only time I will ever live fully on my own (I do like living with people). I am grateful for the experience of studying abroad for so many reasons, but this is a major one that stands out to me.

 

Living on your own is something everyone should do, I think you learn a lot about yourself and what your capable of; I sure have. There are quiet mornings where I won’t have spoken a word to anyone, and before this trip that would have terrified me. But I have learned how to be with myself and have done really well living solo.

 

There is also sense of extra freedom when you live alone; no one telling me to do anything or expecting anything, not even a roommate waiting to catch the train to school, and no one to hold up or wait for. I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, and not have to answer to anybody. It’s a very strange feeling when you come from an environment filled with friends and family (yes I am an adult but there is still expectations at home) to here where it is just me, myself, and I to create my own expectations.

 

In my opinion, the experience of living on my own has been a success! I kept busy, met lots of new friends, and learned to appreciate moments to myself; that itself is one of many small victories that studying abroad as given me.

Megan is a third year Bachelor of Business Administration student studying abroad at FHWien University of Applied Sciences in Vienna, Austria.