Written By: Maggie Neuman
Major: Business
Location: Burgos, Spain
As much as I would love to say that everything about studying abroad is sunshine and rainbows, today I am going to tell you about one of the unfortunate challenges that come with studying abroad. Unless you plan to stay in the place that you are studying, at some point you will need to return to reality. That means you need to build a life for yourself for when you return to the United States which I have found to be challenging and even frustrating from abroad. Hopefully I can provide some constructive advice by sharing my experience but if nothing else this should demonstrate how important it is to think ahead when studying abroad.
Part of the reason it is so challenging to even focus on things at home is because while you are abroad, it feels like a vacation so the last thing you want to be doing is thinking about where you will be living when you go home. Unfortunately, things like finding a place to live are often impractical to do before leaving so it can be necessary to figure them out while away. In addition to the vacation mentality you may experience while abroad, there are other obstacles like a time difference that you may experience when building your life for when you get home. Spain, where I am studying, is six hours ahead of Michigan which feels like an especially huge difference when working within US office hours. For example, I ended up having a lot of problems using my debit card for international purchases (for any companies with headquarters outside of Spain) like when purchasing plane tickets and making hostel reservations. This meant I had to frequently contact my bank in Michigan to tell them to lift the fraud charges on my card. Unfortunately, my bank only operates from 8-5 in the US so many times I had to wait to make my purchases which in the case of plane tickets can mean losing a good deal. My advice to avoid this problem is to get an international credit card like a Capital One Visa before you leave because trust me, constantly contacting your bank is a real nightmare while you are abroad. On the topic of finances, I also advise you to bring more money than you think you need if you are able. In my program, we have three-day weekends which has meant being able to take many international trips. Though travelling in Europe is fairly inexpensive, those charges do add up. Knowing that I would be travelling a lot this semester I spent this summer working in a factory and doing a lot of overtime to save up. The prospect of travelling kept me motivated and made it worth it even when I was going in to work at 2:30 AM. You will also want to go home with at least a little bit of money because you will need to buy things like textbooks for the spring and pay the first month’s rent for your apartment if you choose to live in one.
Some other miscellaneous tasks I had to accomplish while abroad were applying for jobs and signing up for classes. The time period to apply for jobs during the spring semester and many internships during the summer unfortunately falls during the fall which makes applying during your trip somewhat necessary. During this process I ended up getting asked to interview for two jobs which both took place after 10:00 PM my time in my bedroom since I had nowhere else to go. It was very challenging to put myself into an interview state of mind given these circumstances so you should keep that in mind as a possibility to prepare for. In terms of internships I probably applied to 20 or so which is frankly time consuming and probably not something you want to do while abroad. Unfortunately there’s not really a way to avoid this situation if you want a job or an internship so I would recommend dedicating some time to it but not letting it consume you because there are probably better ways for you to be spending your time. When signing up for classes, be sure to plan ahead because unlike at Western, you can’t just
meet with an adviser. This means you will need to get in contact with people over email which again can be challenging with the time difference. However, if you plan ahead you shouldn’t need to stress about your classes.
The last thing I’d like to address is keeping in contact with friends and family while abroad. To be honest, you probably won’t have time to keep in touch with everyone that you think you should but that’s okay. You may not constantly be talking with your friends but in my experience the friendships that are meant to last will. This is the mindset I am trying to maintain when I return to WMU as many of my friends from last year are living together and I am going into an apartment blind. In this situation you just need to have confidence that the best friendships will be waiting for you when you get back and in your ability to make new friends just as you did while abroad.
Though building a life for when you return will be challenging, be sure not to let it consume you during this amazing experience. Balance is key and ultimately you will make memories during this experience that will last a lifetime which is more valuable than anything. For those of you that are getting ready to depart during the spring semester I hope you have an amazing time seeing some of the giant world we live in.
Categories: Home Sick, Business Broncos, Spain