Written by Nolan Moran, Aarhus University Fall 2017
My time spent in Aarhus, Denmark was a time of significant personal growth. In the beginning, I was extremely overwhelmed by the lack of comfortability and language barrier. As this was my first time traveling to a country where I was not familiar with the native language, the first few weeks were a challenge that I had never experienced before. In addition to adjusting to the language barrier, learning the local customs and traditions proved to be a challenge as well. However, these struggles are the reason I was able to grow as a person and come back to the US with a completely different mindset. By putting myself into situations where I was completely uncomfortable and had nobody to help me, I was able to learn and overcome these situations. Now, as I live in the United States, there are very few situations that stress me out. I am now comfortable with the unknown, which I never thought possible. In addition to becoming comfortable with the unknown, I also learned many things from the Danes that will be beneficial to me for the rest of my life. I believe the most important thing I learned from the Danes was to eat healthily and sustainably. In my time in Denmark, I learned how to cook for myself in a healthy manner, and I also learned about ingredients to avoid while cooking. Many Americans are not aware of the many unhealthy ingredients that cloud our food, but I now have that ability. Because of these acquired cooking skills and knowledge, I have lost approximately 45 pounds since I left for Denmark and have begun living a much healthier lifestyle. Overall, my time in Denmark was amazing. It allowed me to grow as a person, and become a healthier person overall. Not only that, I made friends from many different parts of the globe that will last for a lifetime. For these reasons, I will always be grateful for my time in Denmark and look forward to using the skills I gained there for the rest of my life.