The Best Tips for Studying Abroad
Firstly, to answer this question, it will always be YES, STUDY ABROAD! If you are healthy, in college and financially blessed enough, please go to that place you want to study abroad in, it is always worth it! I was privileged enough during college, that I got to study abroad twice. Once in, Australia, for the semester, and for the summer in, Ireland. Both countries, and the surrounding areas I visited, are truly truly amazing. However, I think anywhere you study abroad, during and afterwards you will become bias to thinking that those countries put all the others to shame. When you’re lucky enough to have that much time to explore a completely new area, you have the luxury to indulge in every aspect of it. Such as its, people, its places, its food, its style, its culture. Those are the reasons why I love to travel and how ultimately, found my major/passion.
Okay, flash forward to my junior year of college, where I was researching different study abroad programs through my school (SUNY Oneonta) and other SUNY schools. I found a program, not through my specific SUNY school, but through another one, which was no big deal. I just had to coordinate my paperwork through that schools study abroad coordinator rather than my schools.
Anyways, I found my program by first, meeting directly with my school’s study abroad coordinator, and then she referred me to some websites that would help me find a program within Australia. Thus, I found the other SUNY school that had the specific program I wanted. Then, I got in touch (emailed) with the other school’s coordinator and we set up different Skype and telephone calls, so she could specifically tell me what paperwork I needed, all the documents I needed, all the signatures I needed, all the coursework I needed to enroll in, different scholarships to apply for, housing/health insurance information, flight information, currency information, and whatever else was needed.
Every program has different qualifications, paperwork, documents, etc. that you need to complete to apply for the program, and to go abroad. I know this seems like a lot, but no worries, the study abroad coordinators are there to HELP you, and as long as you are nice and patience with them, they will answer ALL your questions and help you through the entire process, so it’s not as overwhelming, and remember the destination is worth it!
Okay, so after I got all the paperwork required for my application, I sent it to the school in Australia. And I believe is was within two weeks, to at most a month, I heard I was accepted into the program! Most every program accepts, its applicants, unless your GPA is really off the charts bad, I’m talking like less than a 1.0, so no worries, I’m sure you got this!
And that marked the beginning of more paperwork I had to fill out, again, my coordinator that I worked with, was EXTREMELY helpful and made sure I got to Australia, which I’m sure your’s will too! Also, as soon as you are accepted into your program, your coordinator immediately introduces you to other people who are accepted into the same program. Thus, they immediately give you friends, so don’t worry about making friends, they literally give them to you!
In the meantime, while I was busy with courses, paperwork, social life, hobbies, and what not, I came across, an interesting event that was being held one afternoon on my campus. It just turned out, that I did not have class at that time and I could attend that meeting. The meeting was title, something like, global connect-123. I really had no idea what to expect, other than it got my attention and I wanted to see what it was about, so I went. Turns out, good thing I did go, because that’s where I learned how I could intern abroad, which I later did, in Ireland!
And then bam, I was in Australia! There are SO many things I could write here about my travels, but here are a slight few.
Australia truly is a lovely country with just as lovely people. Everyone I met there, made leaving a truly gutting experience. I still can’t decide which experience made leaving more difficult. Maybe it was, meeting my best Aussie mate, through a workout class. Or maybe, my tandem skydiving, who skydived with me in Bryon Bay. Or that one really cute guy I met, two days before I left. Or the crazy voodoo woman who wanted to throw us out of our hotel room in Bali. Or maybe even my yoga masters, who showed me there is such thing as a moon rise, as well as, a sun rise. Or the time my friends and I traveled throughout New Zealand in vans that said, “Man, I’m tripping balls.” Or the guy I flashed. Or the bachelor we met, wearing just a thong. Or the green burger we ate in Melbourne. Or the club, that had S&M pictures on the wall. Or the time our friend Dante, actually got drunk and we partied with 50 year old men.
Or the time, a professional golfer tried to take us back to his pent house. Or the adventure tourism class I took, that I convinced my advisor was vital to my major. Or the koala that will forever be inked on my skin. Or the time our best friend almost turned lesbian for the night. Or the incredibly attractive fitness instructor that my friend and I would get up at 6am to workout with. Or that guy at the bar that said, “I want to choke you tonight.” Or, Epi, the elephant that I got to meet in Bali, along with, Gus, our tour guide.
Anyway, all of these, and more, makeup the crazy adventure I had when I took a leap of faith and applied to an unknown place with unknown people and experiences waiting for me to arrive. Without taking a leap of faith, I would never have found my passion, traveling. Thus, anytime something in life “seems” crazy, but feels right, do it, because that is your psychic self, trying to tell you, this will work out, and you will not regret it. So whatever it is, that feels like the next move, do it, because chances are, it is.
Now, also in the mist of all of that, I was also, applying to my Irish internship. So, yes, I was really busy all of 2017, but I loved every second of it, it’s there that I truly learned that I love to be busy, as well as finding my major, of International Studies and Communications!
Anyways, I think the best part of Ireland, was being able to share it with one of my best friends from back at my home school, Michaela. Most people don’t know, but during my last month of being in Australia, I did experience some homesickness. Which quickly evaporated, when my parents came to visit the last two weeks of my time there. Also, some of the friends I made there, I was happy to leave (unfortunately the ones I was happy to leave, also, lived in America). But hey, it was only near the end, when we were all getting upset that we were leaving soon, so I know their rudeness was not because they didn’t like me, but because of sadness, that we weren’t going to wake up in Australia everyday anymore. But that being said, I was SO elated to be taken a little piece of home with me to Ireland, which was one of my best friends! And little did I know, I would be gaining a new best friend, from Maryland, that I now see almost everyday!
Okay flash forward to June of 2017, I’m in Dublin, Ireland, with one of my besties, Michaela, and soon to meet, another, Cat! Again, there are so many reasons why I love Ireland and Europe in general, but like Australia, I’ll give a little taste of why I love it!
From meeting my roommates in only a towel, to making a new friend in EVERY pub I entered, who all wanted to have drinking contests, to the beautiful Wicklow mountains/countryside, to all the Galway gals, to kissing the Blarney Stone and receiving the gift of gab, to Cassidy’s, to french fries and aioli sauce, to GUINNESS, to walking 3 miles to and back to my internship every weekday, because the ghost bus never picked me up, to seeing the junkies shoot up on our ghost tour, to Cloud 9 ice cream, to Temple Bar, to Stag’s Head, to hosting our German friend (that none of us had previously met), to pregaming to a whole BOTTLE of wine every time we hit the pubs, to only ever getting 3 hours of sleep for our bus tours, to cute Austin that I met the first day and who LITERALLY disappeared for the rest of my internship, to Copper Face Jacks and finding yourself a good ride, to making my best friend third wheel with the boy from Colorado (not even IRELAND), to the kisses I didn’t want, to Eachtraiochta that’s forever on my arm, to Barcelona wine and paella, to our flight home that COMPLETELY disappeared, to setting up my friends, and to everything and all the in-between, I love you Ireland.
And yes, PLEASE, if you are even blinking about studying abroad, PLEASE do it. If you have any questions, I would love to be a resource for you, if I can, or I can redirect you to someone or a website that does! My contact information is under my Contact Me page, or my email is, allthemountainsarecalling@gmail.com, and you can also, comment below or direct message me on my social medias, and I will try to answer, and persuade you to the best of my ability, to get you to study abroad! Thank you all again for reading my terribly long post about the wonders, the beauties, the uglies (VERY few), and the gems of studying abroad!
