Search results for: “summer”
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My Home-Stay Experience: From Terrified to Incredibly Grateful
At First, I Was Nervous About Being Assigned a Home Stay Ringing the doorbell on my rainy first day in Buenos Aires, I was terrified to meet my host mom. We’d exchanged one email each, and from her minimal response to my cheery introduction and extensive questions, I thought she was going to be terrible,…
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Seeing Through A Different Lens: The Benefits of Studying Abroad as an LGBTQ Student
As I prepared for my 4-month IFSA study abroad program in Buenos Aires over the summer of 2019, I had a lot of questions about what my semester in Argentina would be like. In addition to the usual concerns about academics, the language barrier and adjusting to social life in a different country, I had…
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Does Toxic Masculinity Exist in London?
Recently, I spoke with several male friends studying in London, either full-time or with IFSA, to discuss if toxic masculinity exists in London, and how it differs from where they’re from. I was surprised to find so much overlap in their responses! Alex, who attends Pomona College in California but is studying at University College London with IFSA…
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Finding the Comforts of Home While Abroad
There is nothing like the unique experiences you can have in a new culture. However, on occasion, there’s nothing like finding the comforts of home while abroad. As an American (Marylander), studying in Prague, I can share with you a few of the ways I find pieces of home in the city. Beating the Heat…
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5 Tips for Staying Centered While Living Abroad
One of the main intentions I set for 2019 was to find home in my body. I vowed to make ‘home’ a state of mind rather than a place. As I departed my loved ones and hometown on January 1st to study abroad in London for five months, I knew this hefty goal would be…
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How New Zealand Changed My Future Career
STEM and study abroad: are they mutually exclusive? Ever since my first semester at Tulane, I can remember hearing about study abroad events. As an undeclared biomedical engineering major, I ignored the study abroad fliers passed around in my core classes, the invitations to attend seminars about studying abroad, and the presentations by liberal arts…
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How Volunteering Abroad Changed Me
Why Volunteer? Throughout my undergraduate career, my experiences that I have had outside the classroom have always been the most transformative. In fact, volunteering as an English literacy tutor in an elementary school near my high school five years ago was what got me interested in learning Spanish in the first place. Bringing learning outside…
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First Generation Abroad
Is it Possible? It had always been a dream of mine to study abroad every since my older brother did so in Beijing. I was obviously stressed out about how I could possibly afford it. I searched my college’s financial assistance websites and applied for all the scholarships I could find. I also, applied for…
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How to Study Abroad as a STEM Major
I know what you’re thinking. “I can’t study abroad as a STEM major.” It is a common misconception that STEM majors cannot find classes which count towards their major abroad. This leads to late graduations or overloaded senior years. Now this was certainly not my experience. I’m an engineering major at Harvey Mudd College and…
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You Are Stronger Than You Think: 5 Ways I Dealt with Grief While Abroad
My biggest fear before heading to New Zealand was not being able to come home in case of an emergency because I would be about 8,000 miles away. Before going abroad, I had only ever lived about an hour away from my hometown. It was a far-fetched problem that remained in the back of my…
