Realities and Advice from Abroad
So now that I've honeymooned study abroad, what was studying abroad really like?
It's not easy, that’s for sure. But, it’s also amazing. You’ll meet new people and be put through wildly different situations and see beautiful places, but you’ll likely find yourself ready to come back to the amenities and familiarities of being home. Coming to Liverpool I had expectations as to what studying abroad meant, some of those were met, others weren’t, but I’ve cherished my time here all the same and am incredibly happy that my school and family helped make this opportunity happen.
Arriving here, I thought I’d befriend a bunch of brits and learn more about my field from a different worldview. However, I found myself growing closer to other international students, as I shared my living arrangements and the majority of classes with them, as well as shared our experience of discovering Liverpool and adventuring to other places as well. Additionally, I found I was limited in the classes relevant to my major, and that the one I was enrolled in only lasted half the semester. My other classes surprised me with the little work and rigor required of me to take part. I felt uninspired and bored frequently in the classroom.
However, I found myself having good discussions with students in the classroom, and I found extracurricular activities that made me feel like a bigger part of the school and spoke to what I was interested in. I succeeded in my mission to explore and live in a new city where I got to try delicious food and wander many different museums. I made great memories with great friends and traveled Europe, seeing different places in Britain, Ireland, and the Netherlands. And I got to do things I love along the way like delve into art, read more books, and write from new perspectives.
As many students are coming to the close of their time abroad, I reached out to some friends of mine to share their own advice as they reflect on their time studying in a new country. Below are some words from friends that traveled to many countries (England, Italy, Ireland…) and had vastly different experiences although they share many similar thoughts. If you’re going abroad, I hope you can take some of it to heart as you brace yourself for the adventures to come.
Kylee
Coming from somebody who is a BIG extrovert and who gets energy from people and somebody who’s always busy, it was weird for me to study abroad because for the first time in my life I would 1) not know anybody 2) not have to work 3) not have various involvements or activities to attend for the clubs I’m in. And so for me I made it a priority to do 1 of 2 things 1) instead of just trying to stay where I’m comfortable (maybe that’s my flat with my flatmates) actively try and meet people (especially British people) even if it felt uncomfortable at first. And trust me, at first it feels uncomfortable. And 2) learn how to be alone. I knew while I was over here I really wanted to travel and sometimes that means you have to do things by yourself. But I didn’t want my experience to be affected because I was scared of being alone.
And then I guess what people don’t tell you about studying abroad is how EXHAUSTED you get towards the last two weeks. People always tell you about the beginning - how it’s nerve wracking being in a new environment. Or even the middle part- how you may get lonely and homesick half way through. But nobody tells you about those last two weeks. And I think it’s important to know that it’s okay to start saying no to things, sleeping more, relaxing a little during those last two weeks. Because your brain is mentally tired from all the “new” you had to get used to in the first couple months; but by the end you’re having to wind down and get ready to come home. Just make sure to take time for yourself those last two weeks. I tried to plan my trips I was going to take every other week, so that I had things to look forward to during the semester but then I gave myself time the last two weeks and didn’t plan trips. Because I didn’t want to over-exhaust myself. And that was really helpful!
Katy (find her blog about her time in florence here!)
For one thing, don't be too reliant on the internet to figure out what your host country is going to be like - not everything people say on trip advisor is accurate! But more importantly, to remember you will definitely find your rhythm once your abroad even it it's impossible to predict beforehand, so it's really important to be patient and take deep breaths in the weeks leading up to your abroad experience!
Miranda
Going into studying abroad I knew I had to set some personal goals for myself. One of my goals was to become more confident being in my own. Before I arrived I knew that I wouldn’t know anyone and I would be completely unfamiliar with my surroundings. Once I arrived and was alone in my flat, I think that’s when it truly set in. I was completely alone. I knew NO ONE here. Not gonna lie, I was very overwhelmed and I called my mom immediately asking her when the soonest was that I could come home. The thing to realize is that there are other international/study abroad students who are vulnerable and going through the same thing. So it is very easy to meet friends because you all have that one thing in common.
Which leads me to my second goal. I am more of an introverted person, so I am completely okay with staying in my room and watching Netflix. So naturally it’s hard for me to go out of my way to talk to people and find new friends. My goal was to be a little more extroverted and try to step out of my comfort zone. I have always been open to and accepting of new things. However, studying abroad takes takes trying new things to a different level. There will be times where you feel stressed or uncomfortable, but you will learn to roll with the punches and take your L’s. The good definitely outweighs the bad and I’d never take my time here back for anything. So my advice is to set personal goals, be 100% accepting of new things, and go with the flow.
Alexa
One thing i would say is to try to budget yourself early on because I didn’t do that and ended up spending a lot more money than i thought i did...
Kelsey (find her travel and lifestyle blog here!)
Planning is key, and you have to know the people you’re traveling with. I’m a very lax traveler who would rather walk around, hit the free areas and just explore the city on foot but I was with people who wanted exact plans constantly which wasn’t how I liked to roll so I had to make it explicitly obvious after our first trip how I travel and if they still want to join they can but I’d understand if they would rather concrete plans than walking around with a loose itinerary
Realities: I’ve never been homesick and going long was the first time I really felt that and it made me feel really weak and took me a while to get used to. It started to bring me down and I didn’t know how to get out of it so I kept pushing myself to go out and try new things even though the city I’m in ISNT really for me. I had to teach myself that homesickness doesn’t mean you’re weak it just means you have good things to go back to, and you need to have stories for when you’re home again which is what made me continue to force myself to go out and travel to new places, try new foods, etc
Arianna
Advice given to me but not taken seriously, you're gonna buy stuff so pack light and avoid being a ball of stress and buying an extra suitcase or spending way too much money on your checked bag. Also, it's easy to brush off school abroad but take it seriously or else you’ll be looking at your finals and realize you’re unprepared to sit down and get back into the workflow or realize too late that some work really shouldn’t have been left for later.
Eleanor (study away advisor from my campus!)
My advice to anyone who is preparing to study abroad whether you have travelled a lot or never travelled at all would be:
- Expect to know nothing, and don't be scared that you don't have all the answers there will be so many people to help you
- Read all your emails and pre arrival guidance 10 times and then just once more to be sure
- Take everything in your stride, things will go wrong or not be how you expected them to but that's okay
- American universities run very differently to the rest of the world so don't get to caught up in the differences, embrace the change
- Don't expect to feel at home straight away, you might take a little longer to settle in than you think
- You are going to have the most amazing time, even if you don't do lots of cool things everyday
- You will make friends and memories that will last a lifetime, so get ready to not want to say goodbye at the end of your time
- Whilst you need your classes and grades for when you get back to graduate, don't get too caught up in that and miss out on the experience
- Whether you get homesick all the time or not at all (like me) that is completely fine and normal, give yourself a break you might half way around the world
- Bring some ranch with you
- Listen to your advisors once you get to where you are going, they know what they are talking about
- If you are coming to the UK you will find school to be much more relaxed and like we run at half speed compared to the US, you need to adjust to our pace otherwise you will get super annoyed by how slow we might be going. Embrace the relaxation and time to breathe.
- Enjoy every moment, it will be the fastest semester or year of your life I promise.
Comments