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13 Ways to Save Money Studying Abroad
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So, here you are: about to head off on your legendary study abroad adventure. Your bags are packed. Your phone is loaded with WhatsApp or Viber or Skype or all of the above. Your passport is never out of your sight. Your bank account is sitting pretty, not to mention that under-the-clothes valuables pouch your…
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An Athlete Abroad
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The light from my computer reflects off of my glasses. My eyes are scanning the page at breakneck speed. Click, click, click, my fingers fly across the keyboard and furiously venture deeper into the virtual realm. Italy, England, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, Poland, and many more countries are listed in my laptop’s history. I need to go to…
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Studying Abroad as a Woman of Color
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If you’re a student of color who is interested in going abroad, it can be both exciting and challenging. You learn to navigate a new environment with an entirely different history and because of that, an entirely different political climate. That results in different attitudes about issues of race and ethnicity. I identify as a…
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My Parents’ 4 Fears About Studying Down Under
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“You want to study abroad? In Australia? But that’s so far away!”That was the reaction I received (followed by an awkward silence) when I first told my parents that I wanted to study abroad in Melbourne, Australia. At first, this response perplexed me. I couldn’t fathom why they weren’t immediately as elated as I was over the thought of me attending a school halfway around the…
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Study Abroad: Snapshots in Time
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January Two weeks into my semester in Oxford, I’m attending my first hall dinner. Candles light the room-length dining tables, and the three-course menu is printed on what seems to be parchment. The waiters are all in tuxedos. I’ve never attended such a formal event before. Everyone suddenly stands, and I scramble to my feet…
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I’m Here! I’m Excited! I’m ready!
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Kangaroos? Check. Koalas? Check. Vegemite? Regrettably, check. Now where is P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney??? (Come on, any Nemo fans out there?)That’s right! I’m in Sydney!!! I been here a little over a week and it still doesn’t feel completely real yet. It feels like I am just dreaming and any moment now I’m…
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Abroad in a Word
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I asked my friends who made the bold and brave choice of studying abroad—in Paris, Budapest, London, Cape Town, Buenos Aires—how they would, in one word, describe their time abroad. This was a challenging task: condensing an eclectic experience, one that many of us are still processing, into one succinct word. The words were, as I…
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Spending (And Saving!) a Semester in Melbourne
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Flat white from the coffee shop down the street. Bowl of pho at the Queen Victoria Market. Fully loaded myki card for use on public transportation. Another flat white from a different coffee shop. Pair of boots from a consignment store on Flinders Street. Yet another flat white. The above is part of a list of what I’ve recently bought. I’ve only been living…
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Wait, Who Am I Living With? Multicultural Living Abroad
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It’s 10 pm on Tuesday July 14th. I’m sitting on the floor of the LAX airport trying to steady my breathing to refrain from having a panic attack. I read the sign blinking on the screen at the terminal: “35 minutes to boarding…” “30 minutes until boarding…” The time seems to be flying by. My…
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Studying Abroad…With a Stammer
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When I’m excited, my tongue trembles. When I’m nervous, it shakes. When I’m meeting new people, it disappears completely, leaving me with soundless lips and syllables that just won’t come, a magician with a vanishing act gone wrong, a ventriloquist with a broken puppet. My doctor says I breathe wrong. Exhalations come in spurts and…