For the past five months I’ve been studying abroad in Ireland, taking classes in Psychology and Computer Science at University College Cork (you can read my adventures here).  Now, if you’ve ever met me, you know that I am super plugged in to the Los Angeles tech scene, and love nothing more than going to conferences and hearing about the latest trends in the market.  When I was accepted to my study abroad program, I almost considered turning it down because I was terrified of all the opportunities I’d miss by leaving the country.  I’m one of those people who picks a goal and heads toward it at a dead run, ignoring everything on the sidelines.  I was so dead set on being a rising star in the tech industry that the idea of deviating from my path for five months frightened me.  Luckily, I had my father to put it all in perspective. “Alicen, you’re only 20 years old and you’ve got the rest of your life to be chained to a desk, go explore Europe before you put those shackles on”.

Now, my father was being a bit harsh and knows that having a job can be fun and fulfilling if you find the right one, but he was completely correct that I needed to get out and explore while I still could, and Los Angeles would be waiting for me when I returned.  Sometimes when you’re twenty years old, five months can seem like an eternity, especially when we are told as young adults that the job market is awful and we need to be constantly padding our resume if we want any chance of having a career in life.  I feel like I’m constantly sending out internship applications, attending networking events, and updating my LinkedIn profile, praying that I’ll be noticed and have some type of job security in the future.  Forcing myself to let all of that go to leave the country for five months was terrifying.

I’m glad I went, because I believe that removing myself from the LA tech scene actually allowed me to find focus in a way I never would have been able to if I had stayed.  Instead of attending every event and being blinded by the glitz and glam of Los Angeles, I started noticing what really mattered to me.  In LA, there were so many details that I failed to see bigger pictures and trends in tech.  Ireland was like a breath of fresh air, a pause in my life where I suddenly had time to reflect and think critically about what I was doing, instead of working on pure impulse out of fear of missing out.  Even if I won’t always have the time to go to another country for 5 months, I’ve realized that I do need to take the time to pause and reflect every so often, or else I get so caught up in the details of moving forward I miss the bigger picture.