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
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