I'm leaving the country!
Tomorrow brings an eight-hour flight to London and the beginning of this crazy adventure. By the time that I wake up on the plane, it'll be Saturday morning in the British capitol. Since I've spent most of the week relaxing, I'm in a crunch to get everything packed and organized for my trip. Hopefully, I won't forget anything (fat chance!). ;)
Adios, bloggers! See you in Europe!
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Things Not Normally Considered
For those of you who may not know me, I am a huge planner. Therefore, it's no surprise that I started planning my trip to England about a year and a half ago. To be honest, most people probably don't need this much time to plan a semester abroad. I have no regrets, however, since a few extra months gave me plenty of time to handle the unexpected quirks of international travel. From one traveler to another, here is my advice list to consider when planning a trip abroad:
1) Organize your finances. This is probably the most important part of planning. Currently, the British pound is worth twice as much as the American dollar -- bad news for U.S. college students. By working tons of overtime hours at my co-op job, I've earned enough to off-set the cost of British living. Grants and scholarships have also helped tremendously to fund my semester abroad.
2) Get a credit card through Capital One. A little known fact is that Capital One charges no fees for international purchases. I really wish that I had known this sooner so that I could have built a better credit history with Capital One in order to get a higher credit limit. Most credit card companies charge high fees for purchases in other countries.
3) Apply for a student visa. Due in part to recent terrorist activity, the British government is requiring all students to have a visa in order to pass through customs. Apply about two months before your trip to ensure that important documents return to you before leaving the U.S. The visa process is a little nerve-wrecking in that they ask for a lot of specific documentation (i.e. bank statements, a passport photo, letter of acceptance from your host university).
4) Get a current passport. This should probably be put before the step above, but I'm too lazy to copy and paste it in there. In short, you should have done this step already if you even have an inkling to leave the country. Passports are now required for travel to the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, and any country outside of the U.S.
5) Meet with your study abroad advisor. This is another vital piece of advice. The study abroad advisors at UC are amazing resources that can help you in a million ways. My advisor, Jill Winograd, sent in my application to the University of Surrey, encouraged my to apply for a Globalization Grant through UC, and made sure that I had completed all important paperwork for the trip.
6) Buy your plane ticket early. By booking my flight five months in advance, I was able to get a great price on a direct flight from Cincinnati to London.
7) Read Rick Steve's travel books. This guy really knows his stuff. Picking up this piece of advice from my boyfriend, I haven't regretted this Amazon book purchase at all. Rick Steve travels almost every country in the world each year, and writes a new edition of each travel book yearly to provide the most up-to-date travel information on places to see and things to do. Some of the tidbits found in these books are pretty remarkable.
8) Become an eternal optimist. This may sound a little corny, but positive people are generally happier people. Planning a semester abroad can be a little stressful, especially when leaving close friends and family. Travel abroad is not always cheap, and it's better to spend money on a great experience than a half-hearted one.
So there you have it... the most important pieces of advice that I could string together in one sitting. In five days I will be flying over the Big Lake (a.k.a Atlantic Ocean) for an experience of a lifetime. Special thanks to all of you that gave me a fabulous last weekend in the States. I'll miss all of you!
1) Organize your finances. This is probably the most important part of planning. Currently, the British pound is worth twice as much as the American dollar -- bad news for U.S. college students. By working tons of overtime hours at my co-op job, I've earned enough to off-set the cost of British living. Grants and scholarships have also helped tremendously to fund my semester abroad.
2) Get a credit card through Capital One. A little known fact is that Capital One charges no fees for international purchases. I really wish that I had known this sooner so that I could have built a better credit history with Capital One in order to get a higher credit limit. Most credit card companies charge high fees for purchases in other countries.
3) Apply for a student visa. Due in part to recent terrorist activity, the British government is requiring all students to have a visa in order to pass through customs. Apply about two months before your trip to ensure that important documents return to you before leaving the U.S. The visa process is a little nerve-wrecking in that they ask for a lot of specific documentation (i.e. bank statements, a passport photo, letter of acceptance from your host university).
4) Get a current passport. This should probably be put before the step above, but I'm too lazy to copy and paste it in there. In short, you should have done this step already if you even have an inkling to leave the country. Passports are now required for travel to the Caribbean, Canada, Mexico, and any country outside of the U.S.
5) Meet with your study abroad advisor. This is another vital piece of advice. The study abroad advisors at UC are amazing resources that can help you in a million ways. My advisor, Jill Winograd, sent in my application to the University of Surrey, encouraged my to apply for a Globalization Grant through UC, and made sure that I had completed all important paperwork for the trip.
6) Buy your plane ticket early. By booking my flight five months in advance, I was able to get a great price on a direct flight from Cincinnati to London.
7) Read Rick Steve's travel books. This guy really knows his stuff. Picking up this piece of advice from my boyfriend, I haven't regretted this Amazon book purchase at all. Rick Steve travels almost every country in the world each year, and writes a new edition of each travel book yearly to provide the most up-to-date travel information on places to see and things to do. Some of the tidbits found in these books are pretty remarkable.
8) Become an eternal optimist. This may sound a little corny, but positive people are generally happier people. Planning a semester abroad can be a little stressful, especially when leaving close friends and family. Travel abroad is not always cheap, and it's better to spend money on a great experience than a half-hearted one.
So there you have it... the most important pieces of advice that I could string together in one sitting. In five days I will be flying over the Big Lake (a.k.a Atlantic Ocean) for an experience of a lifetime. Special thanks to all of you that gave me a fabulous last weekend in the States. I'll miss all of you!
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
An American Brit
Before starting college, I never really envisioned myself studying abroad in Europe. When someone would even suggest the idea, I would brush it off as "too extravagant for my lifestyle" or "too expensive for my budget". However, I always felt a twinge of regret after giving one of these feable excuses. So what caused my sudden change of heart that is sending me off to England for fifteen weeks? Quite literally... organic chemistry. No joke! Sophomore year of college was a little rough. Coming down from an amazing freshman year of new places and experiences, I found myself buried under homework, studies, and major exams as a sophomore in biomedical engineering. After studying organic chemistry late one night, I snapped, threw my hands in the air, and exclaimed, "I need a vacation!" The next morning, I scheduled a meeting with my study abroad advisor.
Though not exactly a vacation, I am hoping that this study abroad experience will be as fulfilling for me as they have been for other students. Despite taking a few very challenging classes (i.e. pharmacology, enzymology, and neuroscience), my class load is much lighter than in the States and will hopefully allow for a little bit of travel around Great Britain and other parts of Europe. I have decided to study in the United Kingdom for the most obvious reason -- they speak English. With a busy engineering curriculum, I didn't have time to take language classes and thought that it would be easier to adapt to a culture that is similar to the American way of life. In addition, I will be studying at the University of Surrey, which is an excellent school for engineering and science-related fields. Guildford (city of the university) is located about 40 minutes from London, which is kind of like the "New York City of Europe". From London, I will be in close proximity to many major European cities including Paris, Munich, Dublin, Madrid, Edinburgh, and Geneva.
So here it goes...
After a year and a half of planning, I'm almost ready to leave for the U.K. Hopefully, this blog will be a way to keep in touch with friends and family while I'm gone as well as encouraging other students to travel abroad during their college career. This will certainly be an experience of a lifetime and will change me in more ways than I can possibly imagine!
Though not exactly a vacation, I am hoping that this study abroad experience will be as fulfilling for me as they have been for other students. Despite taking a few very challenging classes (i.e. pharmacology, enzymology, and neuroscience), my class load is much lighter than in the States and will hopefully allow for a little bit of travel around Great Britain and other parts of Europe. I have decided to study in the United Kingdom for the most obvious reason -- they speak English. With a busy engineering curriculum, I didn't have time to take language classes and thought that it would be easier to adapt to a culture that is similar to the American way of life. In addition, I will be studying at the University of Surrey, which is an excellent school for engineering and science-related fields. Guildford (city of the university) is located about 40 minutes from London, which is kind of like the "New York City of Europe". From London, I will be in close proximity to many major European cities including Paris, Munich, Dublin, Madrid, Edinburgh, and Geneva.
So here it goes...
After a year and a half of planning, I'm almost ready to leave for the U.K. Hopefully, this blog will be a way to keep in touch with friends and family while I'm gone as well as encouraging other students to travel abroad during their college career. This will certainly be an experience of a lifetime and will change me in more ways than I can possibly imagine!
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