Studying Abroad

[dualthreat]

Anyone care to share their experiences while studying abroad?

Where did you go? What were your expectations? Reasons for or against it? What did you gain from it?

I have the opportunity to study for one month this July in South Korea on scholarship. It's an amazing opportunity but I'm getting cold feet about it.

 

[CEcyclone]

Anyone care to share their experiences while studying abroad?

Where did you go? What were your expectations? Reasons for or against it? What did you gain from it?

I have the opportunity to study for one month this July in South Korea on scholarship. It's an amazing opportunity but I'm getting cold feet about it.

Do it!

I studied in Argentina fora semester, life changing!

 

[CarlHungus]

Anyone care to share their experiences while studying abroad?

Where did you go? What were your expectations? Reasons for or against it? What did you gain from it?

I have the opportunity to study for one month this July in South Korea on scholarship. It's an amazing opportunity but I'm getting cold feet about it.

I never did it, but I wish I had looking back on it. It's a once in a lifetime experience and gives you a chance to experience a different culture. I would say go for it.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Go for it! I spent a summer in South Africa on an exchange program. Go see the world and LEARN.

 

[Clone9]

Went to Malta. Best year ever, man. What did I get out of it? A wife.

 

[pourcyne]

Dude, it's ONE month. You can do anything for one month, and even if it's horrible, you will have GREAT stories to tell.

What's more, willingness to travel abroad shows that you're adventurous...a lot of employers like that. Puts you ahead of the people who never set foot outside of Iowa, that's for sure.

Don't chicken out. Go.

I've lived, worked, and studied abroad. The experiences changed my life, as well as my outlook on life.

Go.

Go. Go. Go.

 

[cowgirl836]

I went to the UK for 2.5 weeks as a travel course. Now, very close friends were with me on that trip so I can't say how it would have been had I been alone..........but I loved all of it. One of the friends stayed behind in Scotland for the rest of the summer and I know she did get lonely because she lived alone in the country with no car. But I highly doubt that would be the case in South Korea!

A month sounds very, very doable - I probably would have chickened out at a semester long thing. But do it, do it, do it!

 

[Transient]

South Korea is a great country, great culture, great history, great food, nice people, would go back in a heartbeat. Japan and Hong Kong (shopping) so close too!

 

[NickTheGreat]

My dad always encouraged us to do as much study abroad as we could. He said it'd never be cheaper or easier.

I tell you what, that guy gets a lot smarter as he gets older :twitcy:

I only did two, a summer in Australia and a week in Mexico. Both were excellent :yes:

 

[HFCS]

Semester in Rome with ISU design program. Time of my life. It's worth it even if it costs a lot.

I think back now that I was a moron for having any doubts about it myself...but I did, mainly leaving my friends for half of my senior year. Thing is I ended up staying friends with them anyway and that was just 4 months of my life I had an awesome adventure with.

 

[ianoconnor]

My biggest regret from college is not doing a semester abroad.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Every one of my nieces and nephews has studied overseas (lucky bastards). Not one complaint from any of them.

Go for it.

 

[carvers4math]

My husband spent a year in graduate school in London. He would tell you it was great, spent more time seeing sights than doing any school work. It is kind of a sore spot with me because he had a free ride for grad school but the year in London he racked up more debt in that year than my combined debt working through seven years of education, undergrad and grad. I didn't meet him until he came back. Not sure how much money you can blow in a shorter amount of time.

 

[AdRock4Cy]

Sign the papers immediately. It could be the most exciting thing you ever do in your life. And if they are paying for it, even better.

 

[NWICY]

Anyone care to share their experiences while studying abroad?

Where did you go? What were your expectations? Reasons for or against it? What did you gain from it?

I have the opportunity to study for one month this July in South Korea on scholarship. It's an amazing opportunity but I'm getting cold feet about it.

On scholarship & getting credit, please don't let this opportunity pass you by. I never had the chance but I wish I would have.

 

[Farnsworth]

One month and it's paid for, this should be a no brainer.

I did a semester/summer in Australia and it was amazing. Still paying out the *** for that. If I had to do it over again, I would probably pick another location to experience a completely different culture. However, I plan on doing that wit other short trips

 

[NWICY]

My husband spent a year in graduate school in London. He would tell you it was great, spent more time seeing sights than doing any school work. It is kind of a sore spot with me because he had a free ride for grad school but the year in London he racked up more debt in that year than my combined debt working through seven years of education, undergrad and grad. I didn't meet him until he came back. Not sure how much money you can blow in a shorter amount of time.

Hookers & Blow

 

[MoreCowbell]

I spent a summer in London via a work/study program at Iowa State. It was difficult, amazing and life-changing.

Do it.

 

[VTXCyRyD]

I usually start at the legs and work my way up.

 

[Skyh13]

I studied a semester abroad in Florence, Italy (Firenze) and it was awesome. Personally I was invested in the trip as I have Italian ancestry and a specific interest in art and music, but even beyond that spending time immersed in another culture is an amazing learning experience and you can only get it by going. Especially when money isn't an issue (that's often a pretty big hurdle for people), absolutely go.

Another thing to consider is that doing things like this gets much, much more difficult after college, if possible at all. Paying for these kinds of trips can be an issue when scholarships aren't available, and rarely (often not at all) will you be able to just leave your job for 1 or 2 months to be able to travel and immerse yourself in a particular country and culture. Usually you're lucky if you get a week.

Also, in regards to South Korea as a location, I have a close friend who spent a summer there in college. He absolutely loved it. As a culture, the people were very polite and courteous, which is generally agreeable to us midwesterners. Plus the country is very developed, they have a strong economy, and there's lots to do.

This same friend actually loved it so much that after a year of working, he decided to quit his job and moved to South Korea for a year or so and taught high-school level English. (The country has a special program to bring in native English speakers to teach)