Study Abroad: Just Do It
Picture this. A girl living in the southern hemisphere on a massive island known for spiders and bush boarding a 21-hour flight to a town in England. That’s me. In the blue. So how I end up on a couch in IKEA with three British folks and a guy from Moldova (a country I had never heard of before)? Study abroad of course!
If you are a person who is tossing between going on study abroad or not… GO. Honestly ask yourself, what have you got to lose? This is what I was asking myself before I decided to just do it. I almost didn’t go, as the prospect of extending my degree loomed over my head. That was the only thing that stopped me. School back home, whilst great, was also very repetitive and I had lost my motivation. Going to Reading has given me the freedom to recharge and set me back on my career path.
Two days. Everyone in this photo I met in a matter of two days. I have never felt alone during this entire experience. Before coming I was anxious, watching videos and searching forums of people describing their “inevitable” feelings of home sickness and all around loneliness. Was that the fate I was destined to? No sir. Your experience is what you allow it to be. Nobody knows you here. Here is your chance to start again. You’ll thank me later.
I was so fortunate to have met all the people I did on this experience. Friends from all over the world who I will keep in touch with for life. We really have become a family here. Living together, eating together, going out together, everything is together! There is such a sense of community here, and the University does well in providing opportunities for people to make friends through RUSU and Study Abroad Day Trips. These past three months have flown!
By the way I strongly recommend buying a sim plan with loads of data that includes free roaming around Europe if you plan to travel because it is literally as important as an organ. Through my travels, I have never felt unsafe knowing I had data everywhere I went because if I got lost I could simply google maps my way back home. I strongly recommend VOXI because it allows for you to opt out at any time and it’s just an all-round good deal. (Not sponsored I promise!)
Incoming Student
