Milan Course Preregistration Update

Course pre-registration for Spring 2025 Milan programs has been rescheduled. All students will be informed of the new date soon.

An Ad(Vien)ture Unlike Any Other

Alli Jones
August 15, 2017

Hallo and willkommen (welcome) to my IES blog! My name is Alli Jones and I am a junior music education major at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. In a few short days, I will depart from DFW to embark on the greatest adventure of my life: a semester abroad in Vienna, Austria (did you catch my pun in the post title?) I am the first student from TCU to ever attend the IES Vienna- Music program. In the TCU School of Music, I am an anomaly- music majors do not typically leave to study abroad for an entire semester. And yet, here I am, putting my regularly scheduled curriculum practically on hold so that I can pursue another dream, one that I could not give up on. I alternate between thinking that I have made the best decision ever and thinking that I have lost my mind. I am mostly excited, though. Well, excited and scared.

Last Friday night, I hosted my going-away party. Specifically, it was an Austrian Fiesta, a farewell to my beloved Tex-Mex and queso. I had a great time reuniting with school friends I haven't seen all summer and saying goodbye to other friends as well. People always ask you the same questions before you leave for study abroad: 

  • Are you ready?
  • Are you nervous?
  • What are you most looking forward to?

I am going to address each of these questions because I feel that my answers cover a variety of pre-departure topics and will also allow me to discuss my hopes and goals for my semester abroad. Here we go!

 

1. Am I ready?

Ha. I wish I could say that I am 100% set and ready to go, but that is far from the truth, at least physically. I finally pulled my suitcases out of my closet today. I put them on my bed, put the overflowing laundry basket full of things I would like to take next to them, and proceeded to lay on my bed and watch YouTube videos about packing. Ultimately, I determined that I definitely need some compression bags, so I placed an order on Amazon and continued procrastinating. You probably don’t want packing advice from me- I am a notorious over packer! Packing for a semester is one of the greatest challenges I will likely ever face… 

While I have a long way to go packing-wise, I would consider myself mentally ready- I am eager to finally be in Vienna and start living my new, exciting life. It still feels surreal that I will actually be there next week, attending orientation, moving into my apartment, and meeting all my peers. I have been anticipating going abroad since it first became a serious possibility during my freshman year. Now that it’s almost here, I can’t wait to dive in! I am not ready to say goodbye to my family and friends and be away from home for four months, but I know that once I embrace life in Austria, I will come to consider Vienna and the people there as an extension of home. Also, thank goodness for technology and Wi-Fi! Facetime will be a saving grace, I am sure. 

 

2. Am I nervous?

Oh, boy. Of course I’m nervous! I am a planner by nature, so much so that I bought an expensive paper planner this year that I intend to color code and sticker to my heart’s content. I like to know all the answers to all my questions, but you simply cannot know everything about studying abroad until you get there! I have so many unanswered questions and little fears in the back of my mind that can get the best of me emotionally if I don’t rationalize and remember the bigger picture. Do I know how big my apartment is going to be or how many bathrooms we will be dividing our six roommates into? No, but I will know soon, and it will work out. Will the students from other universities be cliquey and exclude me? Will I find people to travel and hang out with? Certainly anyone studying abroad is open to making new friends and getting outside of their peer groups. I can’t control how others approach being social amongst our program group, but I can make sure that I am friendly and inclusive of others, and this, too, will work out. 

It is so easy to be consumed by doubts and overwhelmed with nerves when approaching a situation in which so much is unknown or unfamiliar, but you can’t allow those little things to distract you. I have faith that I will have a positive and enriching experience this semester. Mindset is powerful, so I choose to keep mine optimistic.

 

3. What am I most looking forward to?

I am most looking forward to new experiences, new places, and new faces. One of the biggest factors that drove me to pursue studying abroad was feeling like I needed the chance to get outside of my locale and my monotonous routine. A big part of me longed to go away for college, to attend a university in a different part of the country from where I have spent most my life. Many factors led to my decision to attend TCU, which was/is my dream school, but is only 35 minutes from my house. I love Fort Worth, TCU, and my peers, but I need to expand my horizons. Luckily, part of TCU’s mission is to educate students globally and the faculty promotes taking advantage of study abroad programs. I am grateful for the opportunity to get out of my “bubble” and adapt to a different culture and lifestyle than I am accustomed to. 

 

Life has thrown open many doors to me in the past couple years, and the path I have followed them through led me directly to Vienna’s doorstep. I fully intend to take advantage of every opportunity on this journey- to try every pastry, to drink many, many cups of coffee, to visit as many other cities/countries as possible, to make numerous new lifelong friendships, to become as fluent in German as time and experience allows, and to truly make Vienna my home while I am there. This dream is finally coming true.

More Blogs From This Author

Alli Jones,

Home is Where the Cat is

It's really over. I'm back in Texas, in the place I've called home for the majority of my life, and it's weird. I'm different. My friends are different. The...

View All Blogs

Alli Jones

<p>Hey, y'all! I'm a cat-loving music education major from good ole Fort Worth, Texas. I sing Brahms and Mozart, but I listen to Taylor Swift, Hamilton, and much more! (My Spotify playlists says a lot about me!) I enjoy traveling because I get to meet new people, experience new places, and try new foods (okay- I'm mostly in it for the food). Follow along to see what kinds of adventures (and mishaps) I find myself involved in!</p>

Program:
Destination:
Home University:
Texas Christian University
Hometown:
Fort Worth, TX
Major:
Music Education
Explore Blogs