What to know before studying abroad

Summer study abroad. Ahh, yes. The month I spent in Europe with the College of Journalism and Communications was the best month of my life. Hands down. And I’m 99 percent the other 84 students on my trip feel the same. I get goose bumps from head to toe when I look at my roughly 4,000 pictures from the trip. (Yes, 4,000; I went a little crazy.) I feel invincible when I think about everything I did. But there are some things I wish I had known to make my trip a smoother. Things that I’m so happy I know as I get ready to embark on my second study abroad trip, and I’d like to share them with you, so you don’t have to endure crazy situations like getting stuck in another country on a daytrip. Yes, that happened to me.

1. Triple check train, bus and metro times. Trains, buses and metros aren’t as reliable in other countries as they are in the U.S. In Europe, it’s not uncommon for train workers to go on strike with no notice, which could leave you stranded. Trains and buses leave earlier and later than scheduled sometimes, so plan accordingly. I’m not going to bore you with the details of the time I got stuck in France. But basically, a train station worker told my friends and I our train left later than it actually did, and then the train left even earlier than it was scheduled. We got stuck there, and while it’s kind of a cool story looking back, it was terrible at the time, and I’d hate for something like that to happen to you. Be prepared!
2. Don’t be afraid to go places by yourself. I know this is totally contradictory to everything you’ve heard and sounds like terrible advice, so let me explain. Picture this: You and a few friends are leaving La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona; your friends are tired and want to go home. But you want to go see the Picasso Museum and another church nearby. You know it’s the only time you’ll be able to see those things. What should you do? Go on your own! As long as you know how to get home on your own and feel safe going alone, do it. If you’re comfortable and it’s not dark, you’ll be fine. You’ll enjoy your short time abroad a lot more if you accept that your friends won’t always want to do the same things you do, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t see everything you want to. For me, once I realized that, I had so much more fun and got to see everything.
3. Carpe diem, baby. You really will regret the things you didn’t do more than the things you did do. With that being said, please still make smart decisions. But if there’s something you want to do and it’s pricey, do it anyway! (As long as you won’t run out of money.) If you want to hit up a bar because you know that cutie you’ve been talking to will be there, but you have class in the morning, go anyway! Set your alarm before you go out, so you can get up for class, and it’ll be fine. Think and choose your activities wisely, but do things you wouldn’t normally do. You’ll be amazed by yourself when you look back at the trip.
4. Think of studying abroad as a marathon, not a sprint. I’ve been telling you to seize the day and do everything you can, but you also need to get enough rest and allot enough time to studying. I left the U.S. last summer thinking I could push myself for a month and then crash when I got home, but it didn’t quite work like that. You see, the last week, my body rebelled, and I got sick. I still managed to push through and see things, but the 11-hour plan trip from Athens to Philadelphia was pretty much hell, since I was sick. If you feel exhausted, stay home and go to bed early. You’ll optimize your time if you pace yourself because you won’t have to spend whole days lying in bed sick.
5. Most importantly, have the time of your life!