How I Prepared to Study Abroad

I’ve spent what feels like my entire college experience preparing to study abroad. Comparing program costs, locations, academic rigor, student testimonials. Checking major requirements against course catalogs and mapping out which classes I need to take and when I need to take them so that my abroad credits will transfer. I have a Notion page dedicated to pros-and-cons lists for places all over the world. At the end of the day, IES Abroad Granada was the clear winner. Direct enrollment, internships, language and location. Everyone I had spoken to told me that it had changed their life, and I wanted to have that same joy when I talked about my study abroad experience. With my decision made, I transferred my energy to applying. 

Copying lists of visa requirements and spending hours at the library printing duplicates of driver’s license scans to bring to the post office the next morning. I got a passport, then a second passport, so I could make two back-to-back semesters work. I worked with the Granada admissions team, my major advisors, my study abroad office, and my registrar. There isn’t a person I haven’t emailed, or a meeting I haven’t scheduled, all so I can take a plane to Granada at the beginning of September. Preparations have been made. After being accepted, I redirected that energy into another phase, one which felt much less life-or-death than ACCeSS and forms: life abroad. 

I’ve texted with Granada alums to find the best coffee shops for studying, and the best restaurants for a night out. I’ve logged hours on Google Maps Street View, making lists of the prettiest plazas, the best views of the Alhambra. I’ve looked through every class offered, imagining myself in Film Studies, or Economics, or Literature. I’ve scoured the website of my dorm, trying to find photos of the bookshelves and the view of the atrium. I’ve gotten myself so excited I can hardly stand it. Now that the noise of logistics has died down, all that’s left is the excitement. What might my life look like in the day-to-day of Spain? What might I eat, who might I eat with? What will my classmates and professors be like? 

I think what’s so exciting about studying abroad is how much of a departure it is from daily life. For a few months you’re halfway across the world, with people you might never have met otherwise, in a completely new culture. I’m overprepared by nature. But you can only be so prepared for something you’ve never experienced before. At the end of this process I have a course schedule, a Pinterest board, emergency numbers and dorm decorations. When I get off of the plane, I’m excited to just be.