Junior and senior year are quickly approaching, and suddenly you’re faced with the idea of #irrelevant and #foreveralone stamps on your forehead. You want to go out with a bang, but how can you do that when classes are getting increasingly harder, and the university population is getting increasingly younger?
Solution: Go Abroad.
Studying abroad is every student’s dream, yet most never seem to make it happen. Whether it is unrealistic with your classes, it’s too expensive or you’re just too lazy to do the paperwork, believe me when I tell you that you should try to make it work. Those who’ve gone through the process can tell you that the paperwork is worth it ten times over and the experience is life changing.
At the same time, going abroad isn’t the easiest thing in the world. It may seem like all fun when your abroad friends caption chugging beer pics with “study” abroad, but there are actually a few critical things to do to make sure your experience is the best one possible.
Via: Expat Life
The first piece of advice I have for you is to find on-campus living. You’ve already done your time in an un-air-conditioned, shitty room with a shitty freshman roommate–I get it. When you’re abroad, though, this option presents you with a network of friends the very first day.
Regardless of who you are, moving to a foreign country alone is scary. Dorms, or “colleges” as some universities call them, can provide great services like laundry, meals and social events. Remember, you’re moving out of the states, so everyone is now over the drinking age. No more having to hide your bottle of Ciroc from the RAs.
Next, you should try to get involved. At home, joining clubs and groups may seem lame and uninteresting, but when you’re abroad, it’s the fastest way to meet people. Try something you’ve always wanted to do or find something that really immerses you in the culture. Maybe in France, you join the Wine and Cheese Club, or in Spain, you join the Salsa Dancing Club or a Thailand meditation club or an Australian scuba diving club! The possibilities are endless if you take advantage of them.
Along those same lines, try to branch out of your American bubble. It can be so easy to latch onto the first American kids you meet, bonding over 99-cent pizza cravings and your ability to crush beer pong games. But you didn’t go abroad to hang out with Americans or to only hang out with the friends you came with; you came abroad to live in a new culture.
Via: Keen
Step out of your comfort zone and sit with people you don’t know at lunch. Go out to bars instead of staying in and watching Netflix. Trust me, you don’t want to be the one kid that comes home without a single foreign friend.
Of course, while you’re out there trying new things, it can be easy to forget about some basic principles that transcend border lines: safety. Be safe but trust people. Safety abroad is obviously a number one priority, but, as Americans, we’ve grown up in a society where we’re taught not to trust anyone. We don’t walk down the street alone, and we’re not ignorant to the fact that people can obtain guns very easily.
In many other countries, however, the laws are very different. When I lived in Australia, the Aussies thought I was crazy for being afraid to walk on campus alone at night. “What could possibly happen to you? People don’t have guns here!” Learn your country’s laws and read up on campus security, because where we’re taught to be skeptical of everyone who’s nice. But, the thing you’ll learn is most people are genuinely nice.
While the social aspect of studying abroad is an experience like no other, you’re still there to learn, so do yourself a favor and take cool-ass classes. Yeah you need your requirements, but are you seriously taking financial accounting abroad? Throw in some requirements, but also find something unique to your abroad school that enhances your understanding of the country. So what if you don’t get credit for it? Taking Marine Biology was difficult for me, because I hate science, but being on the Great Barrier Reef, knowing how everything worked and being able to name all of the corals and fish was incredible. So, find something that you’d never get the chance to take and go for it, because you’ll regret going abroad just to fill your boring requirements.
Via: Bucknell University
But, while you’re abroad, don’t forget about your people back home. Stay present on social media. So you’ve never been a big Facebook-er, and the only hashtags you know are the ones on douchey hats like #swag, but intertwining your life at home with pictures of life abroad can be so rewarding.
First off, it keeps the parents from feeling the need to call you every day. The point of social media is to share our unique experiences with the world, so why wouldn’t you share as much as you can? Also, people suddenly ‘like’ all of your shit when you go abroad (My picture kissing a koala got more likes than any photo I’ve put up in the 8 years I’ve had a FB) Making a blog can seem stupid, especially when your read articles like “No one cares about your travel blog” (shout out Daniel Harrison), but it’s so amazing to look back and see all of your thoughts and pictures preserved from each moment of traveling. Because over time, you will forget the name of that place you rode elephants in Bali.
I could fill books with everything I learned in my five months abroad, but these are a few things I’ve learned that I wish someone had told me before I left. Going abroad is life-changing, and you want to make the most of your experience!
Feature photo courtesy of: Brainscape
