What happens when you throw 24 unfamiliar people in a hotel on a Mediterranean island? My answer before my trip to Cyprus would be completely different than my answer now. If I had not decided to participate in this program, I would have missed out on meeting some of the most amazing people I have ever met. Like most people, we tend to drift towards those similar to us, but when given no choice, we adapt. I have learned that even if it seems like there is nothing in common between two people, you can find something.
Comparing the travel days before and after the trip, there is a massive difference. Going to Cyprus, most people had one or two people that they hung by, kind of unsure of who they would like, and nervous to reach out. On the way back, everyone was laughing together, sad to leave some of our favorite people. We were already planning to meet up some time during the summer.
Why is this?
To start, the one thing we had in common was being students. Because of this, I noticed that most of us would talk about school on our trip to Cyprus. After that, we found out that some people had other similarities, despite what they look like.
I learned a lot about the social side of the 12 days in Cyprus. In life, we will be thrown on teams with little to no knowledge of any of our teammates. It is important to be open-minded and able to adapt.
Another example is with Dr. Streiner, our professor on the trip to cyprus, and friend on the way back. (hello if you’re grading this!). This past semester, Dr. Streiner was my engineering professor. We would talk for a few minutes each class, but did not get to know each other too well. After spending almost two weeks in Cyprus, I felt more comfortable talking to Dr. Streiner about non-academic things.
The reason I am blogging about this for my last-day travel blog is because I spend a lot of time on the plane reflecting on the social aspects of the trip. I started to get a little emotional thinking about leaving the people I was so used to seeing for hours each day. I hope to think about bonding with my friends in Cyprus whenever I am on a team in the future. The only assumptions I plan to make of people in the future is that they are amazing people with so much to share.