What do you hope to gain and how much research have you done on your host country and culture that will better prepare you for this experience?
When I initially thought about studying abroad in terms of what I wanted to gain from it, my mind was solely on academics. I thought about how I would meet my major and minor requirements, how I would need to choose the right number of classes to meet the minimum number of credits, things like that. Later on, however, as the departure date got closer, I thought about how I would be able to experience a completely different culture firsthand and how that would change everything. I would need to learn a new language and new customs that were unfamiliar to me in order to get around and do things.
For research, I had been interested in going to South Korea for a time now, and had watched many videos and read different articles about what it was like to study and live there as a foreigner. I wanted to be informed about differences in how classes worked to how much more fast paced certain things would be.
What are you most excited about? What are you most scared or nervous about?
What I was most excited about was the same thing I was most nervous about: visiting a new country. I had never been outside of the US. before this, and now I was going to be on the other side of the world without any family or longtime friends. I was excited to explore and experience a new culture and language and everything that comes with that, but was also nervous because that those same things could pose challenges for me.
What strategies have you implemented that will allow you to overcome these challenges and take full advantage of your opportunities?
Self-care and indulging in my hobbies. Finding ways to relax and recenter myself after exploring or trying new things has been key overcoming my nervousness about going to and being in a new country. Making friends has also been a good way find new opportunities of going out and visiting places or traveling that I likely would have never done on my own.