One Week!

SO scary. I have 1 week and even though I am beyond ready, I am not. Work and the holidays have been a whirlwind so far and it's been hard to keep everything in order, so I basically haven't. Which is weird- I am usually very organized but it's all very overwhelming.

Mentally. Emotionally. I can't wrap my head around it.

I have been working 6-7 days a week, 8 hours a day over break at an Environmental Lab and I have barely had time to even think about Australia, much less pack or call the people that need to be called and get things finished up for my trip. This other part of me feels like I need to learn to roll with the punches and not stress about it that much. At this point, I don't even have time to think about it and luckily I have been preparing so much so fae that I don't really have that much to do.

I hate last minute rushes and at the end there is always something. I have this internal battle with order and chaos. I want things to be done and accomplished and structured, but sometimes when I get overwhelmed I do the bare minimum to get by. I don't respond to every email, text or like every holiday picture on Facebook.

Now I understand the feeling of "surviving the holidays".

To finding a balance between structure and chaos.

Happy Holidays everyone!

Packing for Australia

Let me tell you, it has been a serious struggle.

I have a serious urge to overpack.

And it's even more weird because I am packing for a season that isn't winter. I love winter clothes. They are comfy and cozy and just my thing. I like blazers and scarves and living in New England, I have accumulated a lot of winter attire.

However, summer not so much. I obviously have never gone to school in the summer time so I don't usually care what I wear. But now that I am, with a whole group of new people I have never met before, it's a little intimidating and I definitely care. Athletic shorts and t-shirt is the equivalent to wearing sweats in class. You don't want to do it all the time. Just half the time.

But this isn't exactly the time of year, you can walk in to a store and find a pair of shorts. #firstworldproblems

Beside packing for a time of year/weather I am not really used to, I am struggling with this concept of packing for 4 months. The longest vacation I have ever been on was to Italy for 2 weeks. Part of me thinks packing for 2 weeks is ideal because you have less to worry about. But then I know in my head, things are VERY EXPENSIVE in Australia and if I have the item at home, it's free to bring it with me.

Plus what if I need it? What if we go somewhere and I want it? I am there for 4 months, an opportunity will present itself right??

Then there is stuff I will have to buy there like shampoo and conditioner and random stuff that you need and don't really think about but it weighs a ton in your suitcase and you can't live off travel size containers forever.

I have had a packing list put together since June so that I could save money and buy things over the course of a few months and not go broke right before I leave on things that I may need. It has been SUPER helpful because I have gotten really good deals on things that went on sale after summer was over. Because we all can't buy exactly what we want when we want it.

At this point in the game, I am leaving in 10 days and I work 6 days a week full time so I don't have a lot of time to get everything together. My spare hours are at the gym or sleeping. All my stuff is pretty much in a pile next to my suitcases.

So that's my life.

10 days. I'M NOT READY.

Typical Frustrations with Studying Abroad

This is definitely more of a venting post. Mostly because I have less than 30 days before I leave, I have been diligently working on making sure I am on top of everything before I go and it seems that I keep hitting roadblock after roadblock of problems of small details.

Yupp. Basically.

1) Classes Abroad. Probably the biggest and most consistent problem is that classes keep getting changed and my schedule keeps changing. When I originally applied, Union makes you apply so far ahead in advance to when you actually leave, you have no idea what classes you are taking but you need to make an educated guess of what you might be taking and get credit approval from the Department chair and the Dean of Studies. After I finally submitted my course requests in September, I had to get another course approved and go through the Union credit process again because some of the courses originally submitted were not going to be offered.

A few days ago, I actually had to register/enroll in the classes and another class I had gotten approved is no longer going to be offered and I have to get another one approved (go through the process all over again). This is even more difficult now that we are no longer at Union. What is even more frustrating is that there are even back-up classes that had been submitted as well so that this problem doesn't keep happening but the back-up class now requires a pre-requisite of a class that I will be taking in Australia and they don't let you take the pre-req at the same time.

2) Tech problems. For some reason technology hates me. Anytime a really important email comes in, it gets thrown in spam or when we get our log-ins to register for classes, mine out of 100 students is the only one that doesn't work and we have to call IT in Australia to get if fixed blah blah blah. Then I get locked out of some classes because I had to register later than everyone else.

3. Money abroad. I discovered that my credit card won't work in Australia and that I need to get a new one. What is nice about my current card is that there are no international fees, so I won't get charged an additional 3-4% every time I use it in Australia. However, applying for credit cards (without your parent's name on it) is REALLY difficult and you certainly aren't going to get a card with either a good limit or no international fees. #firstworldproblems I hate money.

I recognize that all of these frustrations I have are out of my control and there is nothing I can really do about it except take it one day at a time and do my best to stay organized and on top of everything.

LESS THAN 30 DAYS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Also I hate packing and what it does to my room.

Finding the Perfect Fit & Doing Research

    One of the toughest and probably most confusing part of a non-Union program is figuring out the program. It is also the most important because you're program can make or break your study abroad experience. I say this because you aren't in school most of the day now and you certainly won't be abroad. You will be with the people you travel with in your program or you could be alone with the students at the school you choose.

    For most, it's easier to decide on a location and then find programs using a site like www.Studyabroad.com because you can search your location and then they will bring up hundreds of different opportunities that you then can request information about. Or you can search by major program, or look at different programs and determine location afterwards.

Some things you should keep in mind:

Where do you want to go?
What do you want to study?
Do you want to live in/near a city?
Do you want to live in the dorm or apartment style housing?
Public Transportation options?
Is cost an issue?
Currency/Exchange rate?
External educational opportunities available?


    I remember doing one search and there was a term abroad to Antarctica! You spent 3 months in America learning about the frozen continent and then a month doing research there. VERY interesting and cool if you're into the extreme sciences and cold!

Any easy way to weed out some programs is to decide whether or not to go abroad with another school or with a company like AIFS, API, IES, ISEP, etc (all google-able). Some schools offer programs with the same students so you might be taking some classes with the kids you go abroad with, or have special programs for certain majors. I decided to go with a company who job it is to make sure you're safe and have a good time in a different way than a school's international programs office. In some cases, with a school program you could be traveling with a faculty advisor who will probably be very hands-off in your living situation and life outside of class. I decided that by going with a company, I will have a "House Mom" in the city I am staying in who will organize events throughout the term, and the company's success is based on you having a good time and giving them good reviews for future students.

    So I came across THE EDUCATION ABROAD NETWORK. And I COULD NOT be happier. So far, they have answered more questions, emails and phone calls from me and everyone in my program and have been extremely helpful. Everything is personal and you are not just a number to them. The interaction is genuine and they want you to have the BEST experience possible, not just an experience. I was going back and forth between this program for Australia and a study abroad experience in Iceland and I really am so glad I decided to work with TEAN. Also, everything between them and Union College International programs has been seamless and that relationship is one less thing you have to worry about.

On that note, I just want to give a shout out to the people at TEAN and Union International programs for being amazing because without them, I would not have been able to get everything done that I needed to and they are all incredibly supportive and lovely people and I am SO SO thankful for them!

    At the end of the day, your program can make or break or study abroad experience and it's helpful to go  with a program that is established and will be able to help/assist you with any questions you might have. Since you are doing this alone it can definitely be more nerve-wracking than going on a regular Union term abroad. So do your research! You will be glad you did.

Deciding on a Program Abroad

The two biggest questions many people have after they decide they WANT to go abroad is:
1) Where do I go?
2) Does my school offer the location I want or should I find an outside program?

In my experience, I found that the terms abroad that my school provided were not sufficient for my major: that I ran the risk of not graduating on time because of my requirements and that none of the programs would benefit my program as much as building my own term abroad. If you are on the fence about what you want to study and where you want to go, this is a HUGE issue. I had thought abut going to Ireland or Australia where there were common programs that could fulfill my general education requirements and other similar courses for my major BUT I had already fulfilled my gen eds requirements and the similar courses in Australia happened to be in my worst skill set. Ultimately, I decided it was in my best interest to design my own program through another outlet.

For those of you who know me well, this is pretty typical of me. If I can't get EXACTLY what I want , I will do pretty much anything to work around the barriers until I can. I designed my own major in the same way. I don't like cookie cutter because I am not cookie cutter.  I am a weirdo that likes things  to be different. That is all there is to it.

Unlike the pre-structured school programs where they do all the work for you, a non-associated term abroad is NOT for the faint of heart or students that can't handle keeping track of many different pieces of information, TONS OF EMAILS (and I mean constant) and to-do's. I have pages and pages of to-do's that took me months of planning and I went through packs of sticky notes to remind myself to get these signatures, to go through course catalogs and do all kinds of research on the educational system abroad, how the credits would transfer over, etc. It is A LOT of work. In my case, they changed the due date to two weeks earlier than usual and I realized one morning that everything was due THAT DAY and luckily I had half of everything done, but it was a scramble to get everything into the office on time. It was incredibly stressful and I seriously am surprised I didn't die from a heart attack.

And let me tell you,  you can't bullshit the information because when you actually finish the application, you have an interview where you have to relay to a committee all the reasons why this is a good idea for you academically and personally and whether you can be trusted to go abroad by yourself. I remember going through what I was going to say to the committee for days-before I went to bed, in the shower, on a run- I was so nervous!

Then, after that, you wait. It was several months of waiting before I heard my program was approved and that was when the work REALLY started. I had already gotten in with the company I was designing my program with and so I had to fill out tons of forms for my school and the program over the course of 7 months. Currently, I have a notebook that I write lists of to-do's for each entity as well as to-dos of things I have to figure out on my own and I have to keep adding to it constantly. I only just got my student visa to Australia accepted last week. And there are still ton's of things I need to figure out.

Another aspect of a non-Union term abroad that is tricky is that you have to decide whether missing 2 terms of school at home is going to kill you, academically and socially. Because my term abroad is directly correlated with my major, I will be able to graduate on time and all my credits will transfer into my major. I will have to take 2 extra credits at some point next year because I will only be taking 4 classes in Australia while missing 6 classes at Union. If you have a difficult or strict major, this is definitely a MAJOR consideration (punny!) and you really should talk to your faculty advisor and department chair about your options.

To be honest, I am definitely struggling with the idea of leaving Union for two terms. As a junior, I have definitely gotten comfortable with my professors, the atmosphere, the structure, friend groups and have created opportunities for myself that I never thought were possible. Union is my home and it is safe. I have developed this insane Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) over the past few weeks. What will I miss with my friends, my clubs I am involved in and what opportunities will I not be able to have?

I think it is important to focus on all of the opportunities you are creating for yourself when you are abroad. If you aren't sure about going abroad because, like me, Union/America is safe for you then that is the perfect reason TO GO abroad. You are creating an opportunity to challenge yourself in ways that you never imagined and you giving yourself a learning opportunity that will never be matched by taking classes at Union normally.

Today is my last FULL day at Union until next fall. It is bittersweet but I know that when I return I will have so much more to offer of myself to this school and for my future endeavors.

To all of you I could not say goodbye to, see you Fall 2014!

Stay Golden,
Sara

The journey of 1000 miles begins with a single step. Literally.

When I was younger, I had the opportunity to travel to Italy with my entire family. My grandparents got this amazing house in Montisi, Tuscany and my whole family got to stay there for a week. We each had our own room, there was a giant kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, a huge garden with a pool and a great hall that hosted a harpsichord school.

There was always music flowing through the house, we spent a lot of time with the local people and really got to feel what it was like living in Italy. We went grocery shopping, ate at local cafes and went to festivals and churches.

It was a dream come true and I was hooked on traveling. I later went to the bigger cities in Rome. Florence and Sienna but none compared to the living situation in Montisi. We were traveling at that point, and didn't get to settle in and look at the people and the culture in the city.

The next year, I visited London and Paris for two weeks and had a similar experience. I absolutely adored Paris and London was really cool, but I regretted not being able to really immerse myself. I was staying in the largest cities in the respective countries. There was no way I was going to get the same close-knit experience by staying by staying in big hotels and constantly moving around doing the typical tourist things.

I vowed that when I go to college, I would take a semester to study abroad.

After I entered college, it was after the start of my second year that I realized I needed to make a decision. I was between majors at that point and was struggling to figure out my plan. I walked in to my international program office and asked them about my options.

After doing my research, I determined that the best opportunity for me, was a program not affiliated with the school. It would be MUCH more difficult to get all the necessary paperwork and application together and I would end up missing 2 terms out of the year, but I knew that this was the choice for me. I kept up on all the research and set reminders all over the place so that I would have everything together for the deadline.

Luckily I was prepared ahead of time because the due date changed without me even knowing it and I had to get everything together in a single business day. It was crazy but the stress was totally worth it. i had officially applied and was one step closer to getting the abroad experience I had always wanted.

This blog is not only an outlet for me to write and post pictures about my time abroad, but will act as a resource to future students interested study abroad programs. I hope to post more on my application process, the time leading up to departure, my actual time abroad and experiences as well as the impact of the return back to America.

Happy reading!

Sara