From Dream to Reality
It began with a big dream of going to the land of my favorite K-pop idols, South Korea. I’ve always had a fascination with Asian culture and breathtaking landscapes. I chose South Korea for these reasons, among many others, and will mostly likely find many more while I am there. I always knew I wanted to study abroad since my sister did it during her junior year, so there wasn’t even a question about whether I would do it.
For those of you who want to study abroad, I will share the whole process from start to finish to help guide you in your own journeys. I went to the Global Ed office at my university to talk about my dreams and goals. They told me to look through different third-party programs and see what schools they offer. I went through Worldstrides (previously known as TEAN) to find what schools I could potentially go to. I also had to decide which semester I would want to study abroad. I chose the Spring because I have always wanted to see the beautiful trees in Korea, and the timing of the semester.
At the time of writing, I am a first-semester junior at the University of New England in Maine. I needed to look at my GPA and decide what schools I could get into. I ultimately chose Hanyang University as my destination in Seoul. I then met with my academic advisor to talk about what credits I need to graduate and what ones I could take abroad, resulting in a shared mind map. Once this was completed, I now have to look at the course catalog at Hanyang to pick classes of interest for my major and/or minor. To move forward, I will need to get each class signed off by the department head and advisor, so I can register for them in Korea. Then Worldstrides will email me when I can apply for my visa, Tdap vaccine, and travel plans, since these are time sensitive. Then everything is set in place, and the adventure will start to begin!
As this is my first blog, I want to hear from you as well about anything you want to see in this blog. I invite you to add your thoughts about your first trip abroad, or what you like to pack, any favourite items you always find space for no matter how full your case is, etc.
Await the Adventure!
사랑해, Nikita
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