2. Not had boyfriends. I had a serious boyfriend freshman year and senior year–arguably your two most important years as a college student–and it limited what I did socially, particularly freshman year. I missed out on meeting a lot of new people and doing new things freshman year b/c I was worried my boyfriend back home would be upset with me. When we ended our relationship at the end of sophomore year, I had the best summer I had ever had and it’s safe to say I haven’t had a summer that awesome since. My junior year was amazing from start to finish. My senior year, when I was supposed to be living it up for my final year, I was going home every other weekend. I would have remained broken up with boyfriend #1 when we briefly ended our relationship just before the end of first semester freshman year, and I would have delayed beginning the relationship with boyfriend #2 until after I graduated.

3. I would have gone out of my way to meet more people, particularly girls in my residence hall. So many people meet best friends, future wedding attendants and spouses in college and I don’t think I allowed myself to do that. So many people from my high school went to VT that I naturally went to those people I already knew.

I was just telling my brother that I have a recurring nightmare where I am back in college and go to one of my classes for the first day but then forget that I have it and don’t go back until I am looking at my schedule for finals week. It is terrifying when I realize I never went to the class!! I run around campus trying to find the professor and never find her….

I wake up in a panic every time!

I was fine with being a B student -(Days of Our Lives was at the same time as my Psych class – that was a no brainer! ha!!) I made up for it in Grad school and got mostly A’s…a few B’s so I don’t feel like a total slacker.

I did multiple internships and actually had three at one time – I like putting myself under undo stress.

And – we partied like rock stars – I think most weeks Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays were the only nights we WEREN’T out. There was even one time my friend Brandy and I were the last ones to have a final while everyone else was partying so we stopped by and took a gin and tonic for the road and in to the final!! (It was World Religions – piece of cake!)

We (the Bradley crew) always talk about going back and we all say there is one day we wish we could go back to – the first warm day of spring when we broke out the baby pool and sat in the front yard of one of the off campus houses – we would all skip class, listen to music, drink and just enjoy the day. That was the best!!

1. I had to learn and use another language.

2. The culture was very different than American culture, but not so foreign that I was completely confused.

3. I had been there before. I’m not sure how that factors into the equation, but it helped that I already had a certain level of comfort in Japan.

I know people who have had very positive experiences in places like London, which isn’t all that foreign from the US and English is prevalently spoken there…although I’ve never heard anyone speak as fondly of their London experience as I have of Japan. Not sure why.