Emma’s Tips for Study Abroad

I just finished up a semester abroad at Seoul National University in South Korea, and here is a list of tips that I hope anyone studying abroad, or thinking about studying abroad, will take into consideration.

Before I begin I want to preface this article by saying that these are tips from my personal experiences while studying abroad. I know that not everyone will have the same experience as me, and if you want any tips or have any questions about what it may be like for you, check out the NCSU Study Abroad website at https://studyabroad.ncsu.edu/. There are tons of personal stories written by people of varying backgrounds who studied all around the world. If there isn’t anything there that answers your questions, you can always contact the office directly. Now onto the list!

1. First of all, when deciding whether or not you want to study abroad and where you want to go, you need to take into account that not every country will be a good fit for you. Unfortunately, there are many countries that aren’t very welcoming towards Americans or foreigners in general, and there isn’t much that you can do about that. While looking into which country you want to go to, I would make sure that you research the general opinion towards Americans in that country. Granted, it will be a very generalized consensus, and you will likely not encounter any problems. But, you can never be too careful. On a similar note, if you want to go to a non-English speaking country, make sure that you have some semblance of literacy in the language. Most of the time locals are much more hospitable to a foreigner that is fluent, or at least decent, in the local language. It would also be a good idea to research cultural traditions, customs, and unique laws in that country so that you don’t unknowingly get yourself into a sticky situation.
2. Next up, when you are getting ready to leave for study abroad I strongly recommend that you do not pack all of your luggage to the maximum weight limit, unless you are not planning to purchase anything. But even then… we are all human, and you will most likely purchase something. This tip is especially true if you are going to be staying for a semester or longer. You will reinvent your entire wardrobe, hair care routine, makeup bag, shoe collection, etc. There is always the option of buying more luggage there, but unless you want to pay hundreds of dollars to have an extra bag on the plane or to ship boxes of stuff back home, make sure your luggage has plenty of room to spare.
3. This may be the most important tip that I could possibly give you. If your host school offers a buddy program of some variety, you HAVE to sign up for it. All of the friends that I made outside of my buddy program would constantly tell me how much they regretted not signing up for it. It doesn’t matter if you are shy or if you feel like you can take care of yourself. I guarantee you, as long as the program is good, you will benefit indefinitely from it. At Seoul National University we had a program called SNU Buddy, in which a few international students were paired up with a local student who spoke English. Our buddies would help us out whenever we needed advice, show us around the city, invite us out to dinner, and so much more. Every couple of days SNU Buddy would hold big group events for all of the members of the program or individual events that were solely for the members of our personal groups. Through SNU Buddy I was able to build connections with people from every continent and make friends that I will have for the rest of my life.
4. Prior to leaving for Korea, and even the first week or two, I was absolutely terrified. I was so worried about all of the “what ifs” that could happen while I was in a different country. I missed out on so many things during those first two weeks before classes started just because I was too afraid to explore the city without help. My last piece of advice stems from that. If there is anything that you want to do while abroad. DO. IT. It quite literally is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you never know when you will be able to go back to that area of the world. So regardless of whether you really want to do something or if you just have a slight interest, do yourself a favor and go ahead and do it. Even if you try a food that you don’t end up liking, if you have a bad night out in a new part of the city, or if you just straight up hate the outcome of whatever it may be. It will make an amazing story one day and you won’t ever regret not trying it.
5. An obvious, but often overlooked, piece of advice is to make sure that you stay safe. America has a reputation for being a dangerous place to live, and while other countries may be safer at first glance, every place has their own drawbacks. For example, in Korea there are a lot of issues involving sexual crimes and scams. In terms of sexual crimes there are a lot of men who take indecent photos of women in the subway or try to touch them in crowded spaces. While scams come in the form of religious cults or false housing listings. Those examples are just the beginning. Please make sure that you are doing in depth research before signing a lease and don’t follow strangers no matter how kind they are to you. It sounds silly, doesn’t it? “You don’t need to tell me this,” “of course I know that,” “I’m not easily fooled.” But I promise that when you are in a foreign country, you aren’t always thinking straight. If you are desperate for a place to stay or really in need of help from someone on the street, you don’t always think that the person will have malicious intentions. Crimes look different in every country, and the way that people go about pulling off those crimes may not seem suspicious to you. But if you know what to look out for, and what to do if something happens, you will be much better off in the long run. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.
6. I hope that this was of value to anyone thinking of studying abroad in the future or anyone finishing up their application for the summer programs. To wrap this up I will leave you with one more piece of advice. STUDY ABROAD! If you are worried about finances, there are plenty of programs out there that are around the same price, or sometimes even cheaper, than going to NC State for the semester. There are also tons of scholarships that can lower the prices even more. If you are on the fence about whether or not you would be able to do it, go talk to the study abroad office or even to your academic advisor. They know a lot more than I do about the logistics of it all. This is such an amazing opportunity that, as I mentioned before, you may never get again. From a student’s perspective, the only thing I can say is that if you are able to study abroad, you should definitely do it. It was the best decision that I have ever made.