In my fourth semester of undergrad, I was up for a chance to do study abroad. Due to some time constraints and a lot of mixups. I was suddenly told it was "too late" for me to go and I was forced to spend the semester at home. I was absolutely devastated. I had built all my hopes up of spending my semester in Germany, and dreaming about how magical it would be.
Fast forward a year later. My university had a program where every top ranked student from fall semester was given a scholarship for a study abroad trip to Germany during the summer. I ended up being one of the two students to receive it! That summer I spent one of the best trips of my life: studied some German, made some of the best friends I've had until now, and went on amazing excursions and outings almost every single night. Now, had I done study abroad my fourth semester, I would have taken different classes than the ones my peers took at home, thus disqualifying me for a chance to be included in the student ranking.
