Category Stories: Alumni Reflections
-
Making Your Host University a Home: How Women’s Soccer Transformed My Study Abroad Experience
posted on
As I prepared to go abroad in the fall of 2016, one question continued to worry me about my upcoming studies: how was I going to get involved in a community that I only got to spend half a year with?After all, one of the most significant reasons that had motivated me to study abroad…
-
My Greatest Accomplishment in Ecuador was Failure
posted on
It was nightfall when I first stepped off the bus in Salasaca, a Kichwa town of the Ecuadorian Andes. Kichwa is an indigenous nationality and language. By invitation of the young adult leadership program, I would visit for the weekend and assist in English classes. Midnight of the first night, sharing Monopoly and a large…
-
Mad to Live: Engaging in Action Sports and Their Respective Communities
posted on
I was extremely fortunate to spend much of my time in South America pursuing my passions and dreams of backpacking, skiing, surfing, and mountaineering. To supplement my memory of the experience I wrote journal entries, landscape descriptions, and poems. Here is a journal entry from 25thof July, 2017 Miercoles, Día 16 con los Avydonkeys, Day 8…
-
How to Deal with Weight Changes While Studying Abroad
posted on
You’re Not Alone. Issues surrounding body image, health, and beauty can be pretty difficult to grapple with in general. But what happens when you’re suddenly placed in a new cultural context? While studying abroad, you may realize that the new people around you hold different standards and values when it comes to these subjects, which…
-
Never Alone
posted on
If you had an opportunity for the experience of a lifetime, would you go alone? In my journey to go abroad, there were a few things I had to take into consideration: I had to find a great business school, I wanted to be able to compete a full swim season before I left, and…
-
The Quest for Tranqui
posted on
It was the second week of orientation. My friend Allie and I were sitting in ParqueBarrancas de Belgrano, one of the many green spaces in Buenos Aires. Barrancas is a grassy hill peppered with trees, where locals sit around drinking mate, throw around a frisbee, or play with their dogs. Allie and I sat there…
-
How IFSA Made My Abroad Experience Unforgettable
posted on
Cultural immersion, beautiful natural sights, exotic animals (kangaroos!), and breathtaking live entertainment are just a few of the ways I can recap my experience abroad in Sydney, Australia. In addition to the amazing sights and adventures I took part in, I also made some of the closest bonds with people I will never forget. If…
-
Let’s Get Real About Study Abroad: It’s Hard, and that’s Exactly Why You Should Do It
posted on
When people ask me how my semester abroad was, they are sometimes shocked that I don’t immediately respond with, “Amazing!” or, “Incredible!” or, “The best five months of my life!” Most of them are family members or friends who haven’t studied abroad before, so they have the same idealistic image of study abroad that I…
-
Is Reverse Culture Shock a Myth or Fact?
posted on
The time has come to return home from a wonderful semester abroad. Though this is a bittersweet time, it is time to finally go home. At some point in your study abroad semester, you probably reached a point where you were just ready to go home. For me, I hit that point, and I couldn’t…
-
The Only Thing You Need to Pack When Studying Abroad
posted on
Packing can be Challenging Before leaving for my semester abroad, I had no clue what to pack.Do I bring my pillow? What about my kavu? Am I going to need my favorite book? Should I take three or four pairs of shoes?The day I arrived in Cardiff, Wales, I honestly didn’t know what I had ended…
Blog Categories
- Uncategorized (54)