Deciding where to study abroad can be a very difficult decision. The easy option is to choose the same city that all your friends are going to. However, I challenge you not to do that and research other options first. When studying abroad, everyone has different objectives of what they desire to achieve when abroad. Therefore, you should choose a destination that is perfect for you and what you want to get out of the experience. I studied abroad in Spring 2024 alone in Seville, Spain.
There are a lot of factors that go into choosing a destination that is perfect for you. First, you should narrow down the region you would like to explore and experience their culture. For me, I knew right away that I was interested in living in Europe. From there, I went to the University of Tampa’s Abroad resources page, where I was able to view all the different programs that UT offers. I then was able to filter out programs based on semester, price, and duration of stay. Since I knew I wanted to learn either Spanish or Italian, I decided to narrow my search to programs offered in either Spain or Italy.
Now that you have an idea of what country and when you would like to study abroad, I recommend watching YouTube videos and TikToks to learn about the benefits and disadvantages of each city in which the programs are offered. By doing so, you can decide which aspects are important to you. Some questions I would ask yourself: Are you interested in living in a metropolis city? Do you want to be near water? How is the weather? What type of food is in this area? What are the opportunities for travel to and from this city?
After you narrow down the cities to about two or three, it’s time to consider which programs offer the best learning opportunities since you are there to learn. I did this by researching the different universities that each program offered. For example, in Seville, I had the option of attending three different universities: the University of Seville, UPO, and Centro University Eusa. I looked into where the school was located so I could determine what my daily commute would be, as well as the variety of courses that would be able to be transferred back to UT.
Studying abroad is one of the most amazing experiences you can have as a young adult. I challenge you to go outside your comfort zone and choose what destination is perfect for you not just what everyone else is doing.