Study abroad: How the little moments make the greatest impact

God knows why I went to Argentina. Seriously, only he knows. All I know is this: 10 months ago, I arrived in Buenos Aires, the hottest, biggest city I've ever been in, with the mission to see the world and learn Spanish. I stayed with an orientation group in a downtown hotel for two days (imagine Manhattan, but narrow, trash-filled streets), and thought the rest of my experience would be as big and bombastic as those first couple of days.

I was a small-town girl with an explorer's heart, so I'd ignored the warnings that my Spanish was not up to par, enrolled in one of the most difficult universities on the continent and arranged my own housing without a backup plan. I was going to go as far as I could and do as much as I could.

I saw Iguazu Falls, one of the debated seven wonders of the natural world. I trekked on a glacier. I saw the highest mountain outside of the Himalayas. I was in Argentina as Messi and Maradona led the national squad in the World Cup. I saw Chopin played in the newly renovated Teatro Colon, probably one of the most famous venues in South America. I attended the 200th anniversary celebration of the country, standing 500,000 strong in the city center.

Turns out, all these big memories weren't what changed me most. I thought that I would make the experience amazing by going to the most exotic places possible, but the small things are what snuck into my heart, and are still stuck there.

Why did I go? I now realize it was because every day I woke up to a house full of Peruvian, Chilean, Columbian, Ecuadorian and Argentine roommates. I changed as I got to know them, cook with them, make trips to the grocery store and talk about our favorite songs. I found a local church and joined the students there who took to the streets on Saturday nights to give coats and soup to the homeless.

I changed as I played soccer with 24-year-old women who had never had the chance to play soccer as children, but played it with more gusto than a child. Just one more day, one more bus ride, one more class, one more word learned, one more coffee at a street cafe, one more train ride by the city slums, one more step in someone else's world.

There were great moments, frustrating moments and A LOT of awkward moments (language barriers = great stories), but they were always the small, everyday things. You should study abroad not just because it's epic and exotic, but because it gives you a mountain of little moments that change you for good.