Do It Scared!

Imagine this: It’s well past the time you need to be asleep, you’re debating on whether or not you should grab dessert, and you’re decorating your luggage tags to procrastinate on your final project (because what fun is a suitcase without a cute nametag?). This is what I was doing just before writing this, and this could be you in the near future if you choose to study abroad!

The decorating luggage tags part, by the way, not the procrastinating. Anyways!

Every time I told my friends or family that I was studying this spring, I immediately got hit with a mountain of questions: That’s so far, are you sure? You’ve never left the country before, are you scared? Is your Korean good enough? Are you worried about what you’ll miss? How will you live without Chicago style pizza? Addressing the most important question, if I can survive without Chicago’s incredible pizza while I’m at school in DC, I can survive without it in South Korea. Jokes aside, I understood why my loved ones continued asking. Their questions and concerns were not only reasonable, but they were questions I asked myself many times. This is why I also understood the surprise they felt when I shared that I wasn’t afraid at all—“I didn’t blink at going to college 600 miles away from home, Momma, what’s 6,000 more?”

That isn’t to say I didn’t have a feeling of ???!!! about traveling so far away from everything I knew. This is new for me, it’s new for a majority of the folks I know, and I’m sure it’s new for you as well. We’re all in this together, so here are some tips that will help leave room for curiosity and excitement while navigating anxiety, uncertainty, and paperwork. Lord, the paperwork.
 

1. It’s okay to be scared. Do it while scared!

Oftentimes I hear people say that you need to conquer your fear, or you need to swallow it down and ignore it until you don’t feel it anymore. I’m not completely against those methods (as I know they work well for some), but studying abroad for the first time is something that comes with a level of uncertainty that can’t be shaken off in seconds. Allow yourself to be scared. Allow yourself to be nervous, to ask a billion questions, and to research for hours. In order to overcome your fear, you have to acknowledge that it exists. Just remember: Don’t let it prevent you from jumping at such an enriching opportunity.

2. Stay organized and plan.

Between the IES Abroad application and the application you may be going through with your home university, this process can get a little overwhelming. Trust me, you’re not alone in that feeling. The best way to navigate this is to stay on top of everything that you need to get done. I went through every section of the IES Abroad website and made a checklist of all that I needed to get done (and the deadlines!). Doing that was genuinely one of my saving graces. From getting a bank letter, to understanding the visa process, to gauging how much I needed to pack, knowing these things early on made it easier to breathe further down the line.

3. Connect with other people studying abroad.

Finding out that two of my friends from my Korean 3 class were also studying abroad in the spring made me indescribably happy. My happiness only grew when I found out that there were a total of 10 of us going from my university. As people, we need community. Knowing that you aren’t on your own can take weight off of your shoulders in ways that you won’t even realize. Therefore, try to reach out to people that are also going abroad, even if you don’t have the same destination! It’s always good to have people that understand.

I hope that in all I said, you were able to find at least one thing that was helpful, or even just made you smile a bit! Thank you for reading, and I hope you make the decision to study abroad.