Summer is quickly coming to an end as I anticipate being on a plane to Barcelona in less than a week. While going through the application process and even at the beginning of the summer, studying abroad for the Fall semester seemed like a distant future. Plus, with COVID-19 continuously disrupting plans in the last year, I’ve been subconsciously coming up with the what ifs. What if my study abroad program gets canceled? What if my school reverts its decision to let students go abroad?

It may seem superficial, but all summer while I’ve been signing my way through IES Abroad forms, my mind has been stuck on “Is my style good enough for Europe?” and “How many plug adapters am I gonna need?” Now, while I feel that doing things like looking at outfit inspo and listening to Rosalía are very valid ways to prepare, they’re probably just distracting me from the real things I’m nervous about. 

Hello! My name is Amanda Carrier. Welcome to my blog! I am a senior at Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and I am from Branchburg, New Jersey. I am double-majoring in Political Science and French. Most importantly, however, is the fact that I am leaving North America for the first time in my life in just a few days.

I am about to embark on the journey of a lifetime…and I am scared out of my mind. My name is Una Mijatovic, and I am a third-year student at Centre College, a liberal arts school in Danville, Kentucky. Welcome to my blog page! I am so excited that you are here, and I cannot wait to use this platform to get real about the intricacies of study abroad.

My first class for IES Abroad is called Techniques for Marine Research I and we’re taking classes summer school-style where it’s just one class for three weeks every day and then we move on to the next class. In my experience, when I hear that a class is called "Techniques of Marine Research," I would just assume that it's to discuss how research is conducted, read a lot of papers about marine research, and then maybe take a field trip where we go to a water source and put a little of what we learned into action…maybe.

When I first started my study abroad journey, one of my biggest fears was homesickness. 

I’ve never traveled outside of the country, and can count on one hand how many times I’ve traveled without my family. My family does everything together, from taking road trips to watching shows together (our current show is Blue Bloods!) to family leftover dinner nights. I even decided to move back home the last couple of weeks before departure in order to spend more time with my family. 

Six days. I leave the country for the first time in my life in six days. It’s such an odd amount of time—it feels like it’s a lifetime away while at the same time it feels like it’s nowhere near enough time to prepare. I’m fairly certain I’ve remembered something new that I might need every single day for the past week: will I need this pair of shoes, this shirt, these pants?

In this moment anticipating my trip to Spain I feel that my thoughts and current state of being are best captured in “stream of consciousness” style writing, so bear with me. In exactly one week I will be in the air and on my way to spend my entire semester abroad in Granada. I’m having trouble comprehending that the idea I’ve had in my head for so long is finally becoming a reality, but I am truly so excited. Something my dad told me he loved the most about his time abroad were the smells.

Study abroad!! Woohoo!! I never thought it was going to be possible, especially when there is a major pandemic still going on. I was always hopeful though and the excitement overtook my body when I turned on my phone and saw the happy email telling me that Paris was my next stop. I am a World Languages major at Lewis & Clark College with French and Russian as my focus languages. Yes!

With just five days until my flight departs for Paris, I’ve been dashing around my house and around town getting ready for my semester abroad. This evening, I’m sitting at my computer, taking a break from the craziness of packing and last-minute errands to reflect on this transition from home to abroad.