Category Stories: Family Matters
-
How My Family Ties Convinced Me To Go To University College Cork
Jon Erickson
posted on
My Family Is the Reason I Studied Abroad In Ireland I am and always have been a very nervous person when starting something new. After starting college three years ago and it seemed to take forever to settle in, I figured that studying abroad would never really be an option – because by the time…
-
Keeping Current From Thousands of Miles Away
Marisa Braverman
posted on
Writing for IFSA ‘s student blog as a First Generation Scholar has made my study abroad experience so unique and special. It has also made it a bit daunting. There are endless topics I could write about, well past 1000 words. There are also students out there just like me, first generation college kids with…
-
Study Abroad as a Married Student
Marisa Braverman
posted on
There are many reasons why I chose to study abroad in Lima, Peru, during the spring 2016 semester, but the dominant motivation was the choice to marry my husband, who is from Peru.I always get mixed reactions when I tell people that I got married at the beginning of my study abroad program with IFSA-Butler,…
-
5 Tips to Stay Connected to Home While Abroad
Marisa Braverman
posted on
Talking about all the exploration, learning and immersion that a study abroad experience can bring, it’s easy to forget the reality that it also involves being away from friends, family and home for months. In one way or another, every student will experience homesickness and loneliness – but that doesn’t have to inhibit all the…
-
Dear First-Generation College Student, You’re Gonna Be Okay
Marisa Braverman
posted on
Studying Abroad as a First Generation College Student Being a first generation college student, studying abroad seemed out of reach at first and a bit terrifying. My decision to study abroad in Buenos Aires is one that I am deeply happy with and wouldn’t change it for anything. One of the hardest decisions before studying…
-
Make the Most of the Mom in your Host Mom
Marisa Braverman
posted on
Things you can’t do: One of Tennessee Williams’ most famous plays ends with a tragically self-deluded woman handed off by her only sister to a dubious mental institution as she loses the one thing she has left: a sense of dignity. As Blanche is carted away by a clearly malicious doctor, she delivers her final…
-
Feeling on Top of The World, All on Your Own
Marisa Braverman
posted on
Understanding the experience of being a first generation student is difficult; sometimes it seems like all students share the same issues and emotions, and other times it feels like nobody struggles the same way “first-gens” do. Yet, being a first generation student is truly a unique experience. These students are often highly motivated on their…
-
5 Ways to Survive and Thrive as a Vegetarian Abroad
Marisa Braverman
posted on
“A special note to vegetarians: vegetarians are poorly understood in Latin America, and they are often undernourished.” After reading this sentence in the IFSA-Butler housing application, I began to worry. As someone who has been mostly vegetarian all my life and fully vegetarian for over 5 years, I couldn’t help it as thoughts started running…
-
How One First-Gen Student Prepared to Study Abroad
Marisa Braverman
posted on
As a First Generation student, there are many things that I have had to do for the first time. Others can ask for advice from their parents or their siblings about matters related to college life but unluckily I don’t really have that advantage. There are times when I have had to trust in the…
-
Homestay: First Impressions
Marisa Braverman
posted on
It was about 7:30pm on the last Tuesday in February, and I stood nervously by the door to the apartment building in Buenos Aires. I rang the buzzer, and a woman in her sixties came to the door, smiling from ear to ear. It was Vicky, my new host mom for the next four months.…
Blog Categories
- Uncategorized (66)