Things to Know Before Studying Abroad-The Best Time of My Life

Hey guys! I just want to start off by saying if you're a parent reading this, pass it to your kid. If you're a young adult, reminisce on your college years as you read this or plan for your future travels. And if you're in college, PAY ATTENTION. The way the world is right now, we can't travel. And what's the age old phrase about everyone wants what they can't have...or wanting something more because someone says you can't have it. Well that is everyone in the world right now. We want to go out and do something because we aren't allowed to. Before quarantine, everyone would have killed for a day off, to be able to do nothing, not have to go to the gym, but now that those simple luxuries are all we have, we're realizing how much we appreciate everything we normally don't. Like socializing, extended family, restaurants, and of course, travel. As countries, we've never been more isolated from each other. States are stopping people at the borders, flights internationally are cancelled, people abroad have come home indefinitely. It's an unprecedented situation. My heart goes out to all the students who were studying abroad and had their journey cut short. When I was a junior in college, I decided to study abroad in London, England. To this day, it is the best decision I've ever made. It was the most lifechanging and incredible experience I've ever had and during those four months, I was the happiest I've ever been. In my heart, London is home and it is where I would live forever if not so far from family and logistically wasn't so difficult to move to with my own business.

I traveled to 8 other countries while I was in Europe in only 4 months. I only had class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays which made it extremely easy to plan weekend trips. Before school even began, a group of the High Point University study abroad students went to Austria and Germany right in time for Oktoberfest! I was able to visit several cities because I have camp friends that live there. I went to Glasgow and Edinburgh, Paris, Rome, Geneva, Amsterdam, Saltzberg, and Munich. I even had some of my friends from home come over to St. Marys (the school I studied at in Twickenham, London) to visit me! Along with the exploring I did around Europe, I also got to experience towns in England that are less tourist focused. I had already been to Baths, Windsor, and Stonehenge from my first time in England but I also met up with friends in Sheffield, Birmingham, Brighton, Andover, Bournemouth, Oxford, Exeter, and suburbs of London. I loved seeing the smaller towns that people actually live in rather than the hustle and bustle of tourists throughout London. Although going off the beaten path was definitely worth while and I would 100% recommend to anyone traveling to a new place, it is also important to go to the overpriced tourist attractions and museums because those are part of what make the cities so famous. Paris wouldn't be Paris without the Louvre and Eiffel Tower; nor would Rome be the same without the colosseum and gelato! Traveling alone was also a great learning opportunity that allowed for growth and self reflection. I only truly went alone from start to finish in Geneva because I was able to stay with friends once I arrived in most locations, but even just taking a train ride by yourself forces you to be more resourceful, efficient, and observant. I would not recommend Geneva alone though because there weren't many tourist attractions. I did them all in an hour or two, and everything else was a lot of shopping and overpriced food (although everything is expensive in Switzerland). Not to mention it was downpouring for my whole trip and I only had one pair of shoes, one of which had a whole in the bottom. But once again, I learned a lot from that experience about what I enjoy about traveling and what I want from a city.

As far as timeframe of studying abroad, I recommend going in the fall (or first semester) so that you are starting new with all the other local students at the college. You won't have to try to break into any friend groups because no one will have any yet. You'll be placed with all the freshmen so it's as if you're all new. That's how my school did it anyway. When you're deciding where to study, it's important to know if you want to go to an English speaking country or not. I did not want to take a mandatory foreign language class so native English was important for me. A lot of you may be thinking about Australia as a destination. Now don't get me wrong, I would have loved to have access to the beach the entire time, however I wanted to be able to travel to many different places throughout my trip. So Europe was the most ideal destination for me. Not to mention I was not about to deal with giant spiders and poisonous snakes in my dorm room. When choosing a school, make sure they have enough classes that you'll enjoy that also transfer back to your home school. Maybe save a few liberal arts class requirements to take abroad to give you more options. In England at least, students only take classes related to their major so if you take a math class as a theater major, you'll most likely be around a bunch of braniacs.

If you're my age and reading this post, you might be all too familiar with the fact that making friends as an adult is hard, and it will never be the same as college when you have hundreds of people to socialize with, introduce yourself to, and have last minute movie nights with. That being said, branch out and talk to people. This is something I wish I had done more of. Make friends with the other people studying abroad. Chances are that you'll all be introduced in the beginning and there will be trips periodically you can sign up for together. Study with the locals in your classes, go to school sporting events, and mingle at your local pub. Usuaully, they're fascinated with you just because you're foreign, just as you are with them. I went out and drank more than I did probably in my entire lifetime otherwise and I was still the "non-partier" of the group. That is just part of the culture in the UK; embrace the culture wherever you are. Take part in the normal lifestyle of your country.

Parents, you might want to skip this part because you're not going to like what I'm about to say, but school isn't your biggest priority. I didn't go to all my classes and I didn't try as hard as I normally would've at HPU. Now for my school, all I had to do was get the equivalent of a C in America and I passed. None of my grades went towards my GPA, I just got the credits. So if that's not the case for you, go to all your classes and take it more seriously. But even if my grades had transferred, I didn't need to spend every hour studying. Classes are structured very differently in England so it was easier to get a good grade. We had each class only once a week for a few hours. I only took 4 classes. I had one big essay due at the end of the semester and that was my entire grade. No readings, no homework, no attendance, no projects, no tests. In one class, I made a poster as a midterm grade and had a group presentation in another but it was wildly different than the US. There weren't rubrics or detailed instructions. All the work was very independent so you didn't even need to attend the lecture to understand the assignment. I just did the research and wrote about that research. Before you go ditch all your lessons, do your research about your country, the school you're going to study at, and the requirements for your home school, but either way, don't stress too much. You're there for a life changing experience of culture, food, and people, not for school.

Speaking of food, try as much of it as you can. Eat things you wouldn't normally eat and don't worry about having too much dessert. It is a once in a lifetime experience to be able to live in another country for such an extended period of time without having to work or worry about other commitments. So take advantage of it. Find out what the popular local dish is and get it from the most authentic place. Go eat at the favorite fast food place for after a night out! I know you're probably thinking that you'll get fat or you'll go broke, but here's my response, you won't! As far as the money goes, usually your study abroad school will be cheaper than your American college, simply because of how expensive American universities are and how Europe runs their education systems. For me, we were paying my normal tuition minus room and board, although I still lived in a dorm and had a meal plan. The 'leftover' money was used for traveling. I had saved up my own money and my mom would periodically send me some for my travels and it still didn't add up to nearly the price of normal room and board. Although I didn't plan on spending more than I had saved up, my mom understood that when I needed more towards the end, it would allow me to make memories that would last a lifetime. In regards to watching your figure for all the tourist pictures you'll take abroad, I lost weight in London even though I was eating more. You know why?? Because of all the walking! Now, if you know me personally, you know I'm lazy. I don't walk places and I don't spend time outside for no reason, but when public transportation is the standard, you walk so much. You walk through the cities so you don't spend money on the underground if you're going a shorter distance, you walk to the train station closest to your school, and you walk through your town so you don't have to wait for a bus. I was averaging well above 10,000 steps a day and I loved it. To this day, I wish that the US was more accustomed to public transportation outside of larger cities.

If you haven't gotten the point, studying abroad is something everyone should take advantage of in college. Get a job, save up the money, do the research, and go because I guarantee, it will be worth it. For those of you who've had your trip cut short, I urge you to try to go back another semester because I had my full 4 months and still wish I had spent all four years of college abroad. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me and if you've studied abroad already, I'd love to hear about where you went and your experience. Maybe I missed something here that you think everyone should know!

I hope I made your day, until next time,

Gabriella