This Mother’s Day, Gretchen Seibel honored two mothers – both of them her own. She called her mother in Michigan, and she sent a card to her Italian mama, Marina. A year ago Seibel didn’t even know who Marina was. But now, she considers her family.

Marina was Seibel’s host mom when she studied abroad in Rome. She was the first Italian Seibel met. And Marina took good care of her, taking her out for late-night gelato and driving her and her friends to the airport at four in the morning to catch weekend flights to Venice and Sicily. She was a mother to Seibel in every way. And now Seibel feels so lucky to have not one, but two mothers to love.

Seibel, a sophomore at DePaul, names Marina as one of the best parts about studying abroad. In just 12 weeks, she felt like she had created another family. But she didn’t leave with just a new family – she left with greater confidence, maturity and friendships. She is every reason a U.S. college student should study abroad.

Seibel studied abroad last fall, so she hasn’t had all that much time to think about how her experience in Rome could shape her future. But already she knows it’s impacted her life in some great way.

“I encourage everyone to study abroad because it allows them to realize things about themselves and another culture,” she said.

This is almost a clich?