My name is Hamish, I study Spanish and History (in-between my second and final year), and I am coming to the end of my year abroad at the Universidad de Granada.
One late night in September I was packing my life into a large suitcase for what would be my next adventure: a year abroad in Granada, Andalusia. After a few years of anticipating this day, as and when it came the feeling inside of me was contradictory; a burning desire to go and a longingness to stay.
There was a juxtaposition between the excited conversations with family and friends and the nervous debate inside my mind. There is no word that exists to describe this mix of emotions I felt before leaving on this new adventure. But, on a rainy morning before dawn, I found myself passing through Gatwick security saying goodbye to my Dad, and albeit temporarily, the life and the people I had become so familiar with.
On reflection, whilst I still can’t think of a word to describe the feeling, I now understand that this was the beginning of me pushing the barriers of my comfort zone. For a phrase used so much, I feel like I never truly understood it before this year. So, here’s my take on it.
For me, a comfort zone is familiarity. It’s the people you already know. It’s the language you already speak. It’s the streets you always walk down. It’s the things you’ve already learnt. It’s your favourite cafe. It’s taking the same bus everyday. It’s following the steps you’ve already taken.
Your comfort zone represents the daily processes that you have become familiar with. You seldom have to think before actually doing these processes… hence why they’re comfortable activities.
My first full day in Granada was exciting, fun, interesting, inspiring, but uncomfortable. I learnt the extent of this uncomfortableness when I decided to brave the outside world on the search for a coffee and some lunch after I had settled into my new room.
I walked towards what looked to be a nice cafe, but as I approached I found myself feeling as nervous as I had before my A Levels. I started to psych myself up before entering, repeating my planned script over and over in my head… only to walk past without going in.
This happened five to six times before my hunger and lack of caffeine forced me through the door of a half empty cafe on Gran Vía. And, to my surprise, there were no problems. I wouldn’t say it was my greatest Spanish speaking performance, but I ended up with a coffee and a sandwich.
This was the first step to becoming familiar with this process, and extending the borders of my comfort zone, admitting another activity into my sphere of familiarity. I am now a regular at the cafe round the corner from my house, where I have a nice chat with the lovely bar tender.
Given my degree is Spanish and History, the main objective of being here is to speak Spanish; learning new vocab, becoming more fluent, speaking quicker, picking up slang etc. However, I now realise that all of these processes require confidence. The confidence to ask questions, to speak up in a conversation, to try and say something more complex.
Learning a language is extending your comfort zone. Having a bit of confidence is broadening this comfort zone. As judged by my previous anecdote, I am not a naturally extroverted and confident person. Extending my comfort zone has not been easy, but it has been rewarding.
To be able to walk the streets of a city that is not mine and say that I am comfortable here has been one of my biggest achievements on my year abroad. To be able to do things with out having to think. To be able to do things on a whim. To be able to happily say yes to things.
The following experience, that has come towards the end of my year, is a marker of how I have pushed my comfort zone. Shortly after “Semana Santa” (Easter Week), my friend invited me to a Spanish rock festival in a random town in Albacete with his friends. This is something I would not have easily said yes to in September, well, especially given Spanish rock isn’t my chosen genre of music.
However, a week after he asked me I found myself in a garden chair in vast field of tents introducing myself to the group, and eventually to random people as they came and went. I even ended up liking the music, or the majority of it at least.
I went home feeling accomplished. Not because of the new song I had seen live, or the new friends I had made, but because I realised the person I had become at the end of this experience is miles away from the person that left on that random morning in September. I had become comfortable, I was happy, and I had progressed not only in my language abilities but as a person. This, by far, is the most important achievement of my year abroad.
So, the next time you face something your not familiar with, see it as an opportunity and not something to avoid, however scary it may be.