If you’re like me then you might have dreamed of studying abroad since you were in middle school. The concept of going to live in another country and study with students and learn about the culture first hand has always intrigued me.
It wasn’t until a few grades later in sophomore year that I actually decided that I was going to do it in college. From then on it was a part of my plan. I actually entered college knowing exactly where I wanted to go and what semester/year. I had everything mapped out and I thought I was just one step from going. I was very wrong.
I will admit that my choice of location to study abroad is partly the cause for my problems but I believe that a lot of these problems are universal.
One issue is the application, which is no small feat of its own. I cannot tell you how many of my friends have decided not to study abroad because of the 10 page long application you have to complete. All of the info is of course important but nonetheless it can be daunting.
But once you complete the application the biggest problem begins. The waiting. I applied for my study abroad in February and didn’t learn for sure that I was officially accepted until July 8th.
While I did have some small tasks to complete between this time frame, most of it was spent getting more and more frustrated over learning more information.
I applied to a program where I don’t know for sure what classes I will take, what my room will look like, or what I will eat daily. The latter being the most frustrating to me as I love food.
As someone who loves to plan and have things organized this has been very difficult. I often don’t know what I should be doing and that bothers me to no end.
The head of the study abroad program and it just so happens my major has seen me / heard from me more in the last 6 months then my entire freshman year. It is so hard to just wait and rely on someone else to give you information but it is something that comes with the territory.
You can’t expect an entire other office of a school to run on your schedule and you can expect next day service. You could say that these are two of the most important lessons I have learned from this process so far.
It can be humbling because you might think you are patient but after this you will what real patience is.
Personally I don’t know how Danielle Smith (the director at my school’s study abroad office) handles it because she deals with it year round and on a daily basis. And by it I mean the mind-numbing anxiety of not knowing and just waiting.
While I admit this has been a rough couple of months, I write this after just reading the admissions packet to the school in China where I will call home for the next year.
I will admit that I cried as I opened the email because it contains some long wanted information and now it has finally and truly hit me that in less than two months I will get on a plane and go to China.
So take this post not as a reason to avoid studying abroad, but to embrace it. Prepare for this terrifying wait as much as you can and know that the end of the tunnel is close and when you get there it is awesome. Or at least I think it will be.
-Heather
