A year in a life, a life in a year…That’s the mindset that many young people bring back home from their year abroad. Several language barriers… Culture shock… Intense homesickness… are all the things you might worry about before departing for a year full of new adventures. But for Annabelle Ward, junior at Aspen High School and Rotary Youth Exchange Student, returning home proved to be the hardest challenge of all. Ward spent the last two semesters studying abroad in Olavarría, Argentina.

After the whirlwind experience of a year abroad – constantly meeting new people, and gaining independence – coming home can feel like a roadblock. Like many other exchange students, Annabelle Ward found herself living with her parents again after a year in Argentina. She felt like she’d taken several steps backwards. She first did everything she had always loved about being home: days spent hiking, biking, hanging with friends, and home-cooked dinners. But once the jet-lag subsided, Ward found herself strangely lacking energy and motivation. She felt constantly restless and in need of a change.

“While I was away, I had idealized home in my mind, and I’d expected everything to remain the same while I was gone. When I got back and the reality fell short of those ideals, I experienced what I’d call a reverse culture shock,” Ward said.

Reverse culture shock is a phenomena that often hits exchange students that return back home. It is the unexpected difficulty of readjusting to the culture of home, now that what was familiar before suddenly becomes unfamiliar. Many exchange students find themselves asking the same questions: “How do I fit back into the life I had before when I feel so different? Why is everyone expecting me to be the same as I’ve always been, when I feel unrecognisable?”

Ward quickly realized it was a case of accepting that it would take time, while trying to integrate some of her new habits and hobbies into her old life. Kind of like a puzzle, you don’t always know how to put the new pieces in place, but somehow they all fit, eventually.

 “I am certainly friendlier and less self-oriented, but I am also more open-minded, and want to continue to experiment with doing new things outside of my comfort zone. As I inject some of the things I loved about living abroad into my home life, while realizing that there are some feelings I can’t replace, I’m starting to find a new normal.” said Ward.

Annabelle wards urges other young people to get out of their comfort-zone and study a year abroad.