Adjusting to a new-old reality
If you're feeling off after coming home from studying abroad, you're not alone. A lot of students feel this way, even if no one really talks about it.
You just spent weeks or months living a different life. And now you're back, and things feel… strange. Like you’ve changed, but everything else stayed the same.
That feeling is real, and it’s okay.
You might miss the people, the food, the language, even the rhythm of the streets. You might feel out of place, like you’re caught between two worlds. Things that once felt normal now seem unfamiliar. This feeling has a name: reverse culture shock.
When you’re abroad, everything feels new. Every day brings a little surprise: new people, new streets, new foods, new ideas. That sense of adventure can make you feel more alive. So of course, coming home can feel a little disorienting, like you’ve been gently uprooted from a life you just started to make your own.
But here’s the good news: you can carry that feeling of growth with you. You can still be curious. You can still explore.
Take a different route today. Take a new class. Try a new restaurant. Go somewhere in your city you’ve never been. Cook a dish you learned abroad. Message your friends from your program. Keep the momentum going in little ways.
And remember, you haven’t lost anything. You’re just in a new stage of the journey. You can go abroad again. And even if you don’t, you’ll always have what you learned, and who you became, while you were away.
We’re here if you want to talk.
Resources and Support
- Need to talk to someone? Contact Counseling Services
- Become Viterbo Study Abroad Ambassador
- Explore scholarships and fellowships to go abroad again