A Type B Guide to Study Abroad

I spent all of June and July working, nonstop. Pulling doubles is good at occupying your time, and waitressing, especially, is good at occupying your mind. Before my eyes, the summer disappeared, my pre-departure checklist was completed, and I turned in my uniform leaving behind the job that had been a band-aid on all my problems. So, the night before my 6 A.M. flight, as I packed three months of my life into a checked bag, a carryon, and a bookbag, all my doubts began to creep in.

“A whole semester abroad, aren't you nervous?”

I heard that question probably twice a day, in the summer months leading up to abroad, from customers and relatives alike. However, when I really thought about it, when I pictured my time abroad, all that worried me was ensuring I had money in my account and that all my classes counted toward my credits. 

But honestly this is how I preferred it. My type B approach to life was finally paying off. What grounded me in those sole moments of anxiety? The fact that all the money that could be made, was made, the absurdly difficult to obtain VISA was packed and the eSIM had been purchased. 

There was nothing left to do but get on the flight. 

Whether I liked it or not, I was going to Madrid in mere hours and that was all the time I allowed myself to overthink. I jumped haphazardly between the top 10 most useful Spanish phrases, googling the weather in each month I’d be abroad, and bothering my younger brother while I still could. 

I didn’t have time to watch every “top 10 things to pack for abroad” TikTok or to buy things in bulk that probably would've saved me money down the road, but I got the opportunity to face abroad without the burden of pre-meditated fears or thousands of to-do lists.

Admitting I hadn’t really sat down and thought about how big a change study abroad really is might have drawn some odd looks, so my answer to the aforementioned question was usually the same:

“What is there to be scared of?”

And I meant it. Excitement, definitely. Curiosity, of course. But fear? Of moving to a country I’ve never been to, where I don’t fluently speak the language? That sounds like the beginning of a good story. The perfect next chapter. Perhaps this mindset comes from not thinking things through, which my sister has always said is my greatest talent. If so, I’m choosing it anyway.

I trust in the level of Spanish I reached in my university, and I'm excited to be out of my comfort zone, in more aspects than one. I'm thrilled to turn down new streets without knowing when they will end. I'm psyched to learn new slang and to use Apple Maps for everything just like I did freshman year when everything was new.

So for those preparing to study abroad, I implore you to take the Type B approach…or maybe not. Ask me in three months?