Study Abroad Waiting Game

Hello! Welcome to my first blog! In this blog post, I will share my experiences with choosing my program and how I’ve prepared to go abroad. 

To risk sounding cliché, traveling abroad has been my dream for as long as I can remember. I’ve been asked many times what prompted my decision to study abroad, and I've never been able to come up with a proper answer. Whatever it was that impacted my decision happened so long ago that I can’t pinpoint the exact moment. However, there have been many instances I do remember throughout my life that might have influenced my decision. 

From a young age, I have been interested in the U.K. and Ireland. I had a phase where I was obsessed with Scotland because of the Pixar movie Brave. I asked for a toy bow and arrow for Christmas that year so I could be just like the main character, Merida. In 5th grade, I got weirdly interested in the British monarchy and retained more information about the royal family than necessary. In high school, I watched the Rom-Com Leap Year and fell in love with Irish culture and terrain. I can keep naming all of the movies, books, songs, and stories that led me to my decision of destination. But if I absolutely had to pick the factor that solidified my choice was my major. As a creative writing major, I was lucky enough to have a program so specific to my interests, and that is the Dublin Writers Program. If I could tell little Madi that she would be going to Ireland to study her favorite hobby, well, she’d probably scream and then run off to write about how excited she was in her blue sparkly journal. 

Preparing for study abroad has been a surprisingly fun experience. I’ve felt so adult getting a passport and filling out all of the paperwork. I made sure to get my passport almost a year in advance since I knew that I wanted to go for a while now. Ireland doesn’t require student visas, so I got off the hook there. I think the hardest part of preparing to go abroad for me is saving money. I got a couple of student jobs so that I can work reasonable hours during the semester; however, as a college student, it’s hard to save money. Life happens, and in my case, coffee happens. I find it very hard to deny myself an iced coffee, even though I have a Keurig in my dorm. However, in the past couple of months, I’ve adopted a new mantra. Every time I clock into an early morning shift or deny myself a cold brew, I say to myself: this is for a coffee in Europe. Because everything sounds better when you add the word Europe. It’s not the most perfect system, but it’s worked for me so far. 

During my anticipation for my departure date, I’ve become excited about the prospect of my friends possibly studying abroad one day. It’s now something I ask everyone I meet. I love hearing about all of the places people are interested in going and how different their reasoning is from mine. 

My advice to anyone considering studying abroad is: applying is not as difficult and scary as it looks. Sure, there may be a lot of steps and applications you have to fill out when you get a passport or visa, but if you do the process one step at a time, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Another piece of advice I have is: research! Whether you know where you want to go or not, researching the country you're interested in will help you solidify your decision and give you insight into what life might be like there. It’s important to familiarize yourself with local laws, customs, and culture so that you are prepared when you reach your destination. My last piece of advice is to use your resources. Talk to your advisor and students who have gone abroad before. What I’ve found is that you either get useful information or a great story! 

Now that my departure date is so close, I’ve found I’m becoming more and more annoying. All I can talk about is Ireland and all the things I want to see and do there. It’s made me insufferable, but I can’t help it. Just the other day, I saw the sunset, and instead of saying “wow, so pretty,” I turned to my mom and said, “I wonder if the sunsets in Dublin are pretty.” So if you are receiving complaints from your friends and family about how much you’re talking about studying abroad, just tell them it’s not your fault, it’s just the side effect of playing the study abroad waiting game.