What I Learned Studying Abroad

Looking back over my first semester studying abroad, and seeing what’s different this semester, I really think I learned a lot about myself and the country I’ve adopted. So, in keeping with my New Years resolutions to bring more joy and peace to the world, I’m sharing these thoughts with all of you, so you can make the best choices for you, as you consider studying abroad!

1. Know yourself.

If you’re the kind of person who likes the small classes at Holy Cross, and learns well in those, stick to classes like that. Look for seminars and small class sizes, which are not always available at other universities. I can’t take classes like that at Leicester, but I know that I can do well in huge lecture halls as long as it’s not a class that I have to learn to do problems in. My sociology class was really interesting, and that was a lecture, but once a week it broke up into 10-person seminars where we discussed the readings. So I learned that that style worked for me, but the huge lectures in the physics department didn’t work.

2. Be able to ask for help.

When I first got to Leicester, I didn’t know ANYONE (except for the one other Holy Cross student, but we didn’t know each other well at all!), let alone anyone in the study abroad office. Turns out, there wasn’t one specific person I was supposed to contact- they were between leadership! But now there’s a new contact person at Leicester, and in the short email exchange I’ve had with him, he’s been so helpful. I wish I had known that I should have kept asking and asking before, but I was afraid of seeming like a pain. Now I realize that I shouldn’t have let that stop me! The study abroad office at Holy Cross didn’t really have answers for me but the people I did talk to at Leicester in the individual departments did, although I had to do a lot of legwork to find my answers.

3. Don’t let the small things bother you.

Sometimes it seems like everything is going wrong. You have no idea what anyone is saying in class, they all know each other, and there’s no one you can go to to ask for help. IT WILL BE FINE. That lesson took a while to sink in, for me, at least, because I felt like everyone already knew what was happening and had their groups of friends, and I couldn’t even go to the professor like I can at HC because they aren’t as friendly or accessible. And then, I joined some societies, and started talking to people, and it got easier. I don’t think I’ll ever feel as comfortable at Leicester as I do back at HC but I know this isn’t permanent. This too, shall pass, so make the most of the time you have!

In other news, I keep reading about all of the snow back home, and I’m SO JEALOUS! I love the snow, and seeing everyone’s pictures makes me wish I was there to enjoy it. Unfortunately no snow or cancelled classes here. It’s actually almost nice (read: grey but NOT raining) here. I hope everyone is staying safe and warm!

Michaela xx

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10th, 2015 at 2:52 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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