A world of experiences
My semester studying in the United States
With the initial challenges behind me, I was finally ready to fully embrace my half-year study experience in the United States. It was a time of firsts — my first time living alone, my first experience studying abroad, and my first real taste of independence. The sense of freedom was feeling great, and I was determined to make the most of every moment.
Living on my own at Highland Hills
For the first time in my life, I was living on my own. Highland Hills, the apartment complex where I stayed, was feeling like a whole community and almost a small village within the city of Mankato. Picture rows of identical apartment buildings, all filled with students from Minnesota State University. The uniformity was striking, almost as if the whole place had been plucked out of a suburb and dropped into Mankato. Yet, there was something comforting about the familiarity of it all. It felt like home, even though I was thousands of miles away from the Netherlands.
What made my place so special was the atmosphere among the residents. It was a place where you could walk outside and see dozens of people your age, all experiencing the same phase of life. Whether it was a casual conversation with a neighbor on the way to class or a spontaneous gathering in one of the communal…
