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Category Stories: Wellness, Health, and Safety

  • How To Overcome First Generation Hurdles While Studying Abroad

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    How To Overcome First Generation Hurdles While Studying Abroad

    Let me start by saying that I am a first-generation college student who grew up in poverty. I have also struggled with depression and anxiety for most of my life. At one point, I started failing classes and had to drop out of college for a year and a half. Studying abroad has always been…

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  • Safe Travels for My Abroad Ladies!

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    Safe Travels for My Abroad Ladies!

    Before My Study Abroad Several foreboding warnings were handed delicately within conversation to me before departing for my semester at the University of Glasgow, from both my family and friends. As a woman planning to travel in foreign countries besides Scotland during my time abroad, most people warned me with wariness to be aware of my surroundings while…

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  • Some Thoughts on the Unexpected Benefits of Traveling Solo

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    Some Thoughts on the Unexpected Benefits of Traveling Solo

    Traveling During the six-week Easter break afforded to me at Oxford, I accomplished some travel. This was about a month and a half’s worth, most of it alone, as I took trains around the South of France and Alpine Austria, did a pilgrimage to Lourdes, and spent a frankly unnecessarily long time in Bordeaux. There’s something to…

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  • Women Traveling Abroad

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    Women Traveling Abroad

    Many students who study abroad try to make the most of their experience by traveling to different places throughout the course of the semester. In fact, as the end of our time abroad draws closer and closer, I cannot name a single exchange student I met who hasn’t traveled at least once throughout the past…

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  • How to Reset While Abroad

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    How to Reset While Abroad

    As I passed the two-month marker of my semester abroad, I entered a rut: one that can only be described as complacency. I had become complacent with a schedule that did not leave me excited to leave my bed. I went to classes and paid very minimal attention, if any. I just went through the…

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  • Tips for Navigating Study Abroad as an Introvert

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    Tips for Navigating Study Abroad as an Introvert

    When I told people I was planning on studying abroad, one of the things I heard most often was, “You’re going to have an amazing time! You’ll make friends for life!” Although it was nice to hear people say this, I also found myself feeling stressed out about the prospect of making “friends for life”…

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  • What are Seasons? I’m From Hawaii!

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    What are Seasons? I’m From Hawaii!

    The first time I experienced seasons, I was 17 years old. My whole life up until my freshman year of college was spent on a tropical island where “cold” was 70 degrees Fahrenheit, leaves stayed attached to branches, and the sun never set earlier than 6PM. Nearly every day was a beach day.  I started…

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  • In A World of Possibilities, Why IFSA?

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    In A World of Possibilities, Why IFSA?

    Choosing IFSA: Why the Program Was Right for Me  When it came time for me to choose how and where I wanted to study abroad, the possibilities were quite literally endless. My university allows students to study via a “Duke-In” program, an  approved program, or you can petition for a specific program. The infinite options…

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  • How to Avoid Dairy (and Other Allergens) While Abroad

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    How to Avoid Dairy (and Other Allergens) While Abroad

    As someone who can’t eat dairy, I worried about how this would affect my study abroad experience. I did not know how much control I would have over what I was eating. However, I found that during my my dietary restriction did not hold me back and I want to share some of the ways…

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  • How to Practice Self Care Abroad

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    How to Practice Self Care Abroad

    Learning how to practice self care abroad has been essential for me, as I have severe anxiety and depression and deciding to move abroad scared me more than anything in my life ever has. I was terrified of what was going to happen without immediate availability to my support system (Wow! What a lighthearted way…

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