I grew up in Connecticut and moved to Europe for college. I never intended for the move to be permanent.

27.08.2024 - 16:41 / insider.com / In Europe

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Liza Jean Miezejeski, a content creator and founder of Skola, a startup to help students navigate moving to Europe to attend university. It has been edited for length and clarity.

In high school, when it was time to start planning for the future, all I felt was fear — the fear of graduating from collegewith debt.

It was 2015, and I was a sophomore. One day, on a drive through our Connecticut town with my mom, we heard on the radio that Americans were moving to Germany for free education.

It sounded perfect. "You should do this," my mom agreed.

So, we started researching colleges in Europe. The Anglo-American University in Prague was my top choice because of its affordability and its curriculum. A high school diploma wasn't required to apply, so I applied early and got in.

I only knew one other student from my high school who moved abroad for their studies. The rest of my schoolmates went to college in Boston, New York, or other parts of New England.

I was excited, but I didn't fully understand what I was getting myself into until I was in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic.

I don't think I knew what culture shock meant until I moved to Prague. In my hometown, it's normal to say "hi" to everyone you pass.

But Czechs looked at me weirdly when I did the same in Prague. It took me a while to realize it was a cultural difference, but I eventually got used to it.

Before moving to Europe, I didn't realize how much of my thinking about the world was from a US-centric perspective. In Europe, the students I studied with were from all over the world. I learned about their cultures, ways of life, and languages.

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As cheesy as it sounds, the learning did not stop there. As an international student, getting on public transportation, grabbing a coffee, and everything I did for the first time was a learning experience. It was exciting, and as a result, made everything I did interesting.

And even though the cheaper tuition was my main reason for moving to Europe, the opportunity to travel and see the world was also a big pro.

I had originally intended to complete the three-year college program in Prague and then return to the US. I did not even consider the possibility that people could leave the US permanently.

When I spent a semester abroad in Malaysia in 2019, a friend asked if I intended to return to the US.

"No," I replied almost immediately, realizing I had made the decision unconsciously. My entire adult life and everything I knew were now in Europe. If I returned to the US, I would experience culture shock and have to "relearn" being an adult, I thought.

After I completed my bachelor's degree in Humanities, Society, and Culture in