With this weekend marking only a month left of studying abroad, I’ve been reflecting on my experience. Thinking back to my acceptance and preparation for the best four months of my life, it was actually really stressful! Not only are you packing your life away, you have to register for the right classes and meet new people. Ironically, abroad is a lot like being a freshman again. (Especially when you’re living in a dorm…shoutout to Nido.)
The most stressful thing about packing is making sure you have clothes that are versatile for the different types of weather you’ll experience. You have to make sure you get the right converters so you can charge your phone and not blow up your curling iron (true study, it actually happened.) Stock up on your make up and cleansers because chances are you won’t be able to find it, or it’ll be too expensive.
Then there’s the pressures of being abroad, like seeing everything in the city you’re studying in and traveling to as many countries as possible all while trying not to get homesick from your friends’ Instagrams and SnapStories. I’m already mentally preparing for Quals and Little 500.
So for you people studying abroad, have studied, planning on it or just want some insight, here is a list of 15 underrated things about studying abroad:
1. You’re always tired, hungry and dehydrated
2. WIFI = LIFE
3. You can find a good panini anywhere in Europe
Florence, Italy
4. If you didn’t Instagram your travels, did it really happen?
5. St. Patrick’s Day in Dublin = an IU day-drink, swapping in green for the cream and crimson
Dublin, Ireland
6. If it has a TripAdvisor sticker in the window, it’s a go
7. You always put your travels/experiences over schoolwork: you’re here to see new cities and cultures, not get a 4.0
8. You will wear the same clothes over and over and over again, so much so you will throw them out at the end of your time abroad
9. Eating/drinking your way through Europe is the only way to do abroad right
Munich, Germany
10. Getting a new stamp on your Passport is actually the best feeling in the world
11. Hola is the reason you’re up-to-date on your American TV shows and can watch Friends on Netflix
12. Your flights to other countries will only be at the most awkward times ever. Thank you Ryanair and EasyJet for giving us cheap flights at the worst possible times.
after a 6:45am flight…Prague, Czech Republic (always eating!)
13. Remember your best friend from high school’s boyfriend’s teammate’s camp friend? You will run into he/she at a pub crawl. Or Abroadfest #Opium
14. Abroad is a bunch of weekend vacations within a semester-long vacation
15. It’s sappy, it’s cliche, but it’s true: you really do grow as a person
London, England
Then suddenly you only have a month left and you’re sittig in your room with your roommate depressed, reliving the last three months like it happened years ago. Because whether you’re nailing your British accent in London, eating your way through Florence, partying it up in Barcelona, getting super tan in Tel Aviv, enjoying summer in Australia or freezing your butt off in PRague, these low-key things only partially make up a semester we’ll never forget.
P.S. A HUGE shoutout to parents everywhere: the real MVPs.
*all photos were taken by Hannah Lavine