I realized today that I have hardly said a word about my upcoming journey to France where I will be living for an entire semester. To speak honestly, I've found it hard to get excited about this trip. It still doesn't seem real! But I know that it is going to be amazing and there is a passion pushing me to go.
The process of studying abroad, before you even board the plane, is actually pretty long and complicated, but not too difficult if you take it one step at a time. So far, I have been preparing for this for about a year, and last week I finally received my visa in the mail from the embassy!
First: The most important step in beginning the process is actually committing, and saying "yes, I am going to do this." This was the hardest for me because I had about a million reservations. The idea that I would actually be standing there, in Europe, seemed impossible to me, only all of things holding me back seemed real. But once I committed, it was easier to pursue. Not to mention all of the people supporting me and encouraging me; primarily my parents and my Love.
Next: the Uni that I go to has a system where you have to get all of your courses approved by the department head of each class. This meant I had to go to about 4 different academic advisors and have them approve the different courses I wanted to take. I also had to get advising from my primary advisors. So there was a lot of networking involved, which included scholarship applications, orientations, etc.
There were also multiple applications to process. The study abroad application for my uni, the application to study abroad with my program, and the application for the university that uses this program. So technically, I am currently enrolled at two universities- on two separate coasts! Neither of which I will be attending this fall, because I will be attending a university in France. Mon Dieu!
Finally: well, at least the last step that I have just completed was getting my visa approved. This involved making copies upon copies of documents, having affidavits signed, and carrying all of these to the French embassy in my area to have them approved by them. It was interesting being in the visa office because they all spoke french.
Anyway, so far it has been a pretty straight forward process. It's hard to believe that I've been working on this for so long, and it's about to actually happen. Also, i'm fairly certain that packing is going to be the biggest struggle of them all.
Best of luck! I intend to spend a year in Germany in my third year of uni. It's a while off, and I live in Europe anyway so it's a lot easier to organise! I went for an exchange to Germany last year... Was it hard! But even after a tiresome day, it is so worth the experience and opportunities living through another language gives you. X
ReplyDeleteThis is amazing. I have always wanted to do something like this, but assumed it was a pipe dream. You make it seem actually possible.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck to you, I can't wait to watch this journey unfold!
You are going to have such a great time and your hard work will have paid off! I hope to do something like this soon (; This post was very inspirational and informational!
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