Ok, I know in last week's post I promised that this post would be about a trip to Shosenkyo and an art museum, however, I ended up not going out on the excursion due to gloomy weather. So instead, I've got a new topic lined up and ready to go! For any students out there reading this blog, I want to address the topic of studying abroad and why I firmly believe just about everyone should take this opportunity during their college years.
At first, I was quite anxious and afraid about going abroad, it meant being in a country I had never been to all by myself, it meant being away from my family, friends and boyfriend for a long time, and until this point I hadn't really needed to be extremely independent. These worries were quite strong at times, especially since YGU isn't a partner with W&J, so I'm the first W&J student to study abroad here! Those anxious feelings weren't overwhelming though, they would come and go and were periodically replaced by excitement and eager feelings.
That brings me to the topic, "Why should you consider studying abroad?" For me, going to Japan was almost a no brainer, I've dreamed of visiting Japan for years and I've been working to teach myself the language since I was in high school. But this isn't about why I chose to study abroad, I've already talked about that in a previous post, this is about you, the readers. Maybe you aren't interested in learning a language, maybe you'd rather just go to an English-speaking country, maybe you've never even thought about studying abroad.
While I've only been in Japan for about a month and a half, I've already noticed a lot of personal changes that I've undergone. For example, since being here I've become far more conscious of my spending habits, this has helped me a great deal in being more independent. I've set up a budget (as mentioned in a previous post) and I am sticking to it and managing to have a little left over each time. Living on my own (that is, without my family, friends, etc.) has given me the opportunity to depend on myself more, but that's not to say I haven't made several new friends here. It's also forced me to evaluate my friendships back home and decide which ones I need to put more effort into. Obviously while you are abroad (depending on time differences) it can be very challenging to maintain contact with people back home, so you have to decide for yourself which (if any) friends you're going to keep consistent contact with. For me, the obvious emphasis is on keeping touch with my boyfriend as best we can, however, I do keep pretty frequent contact with my sister and another friend back home. I've been using my time abroad to embrace my independence from my family, but I keep in touch every couple weeks or so. This brings me to the subject of relationships while abroad, you'll be away and enjoying time spent with new friends, so it can be challenging to maintain a long distance relationship. Specifically with a significant other, you have to make sure to sit down and discuss how things are going to work out while you are away. That is to say: Are you going to stay together (long distance style), are you going to take a pause/see other people, etc. It can be a difficult discussion, but it is absolutely necessary, you may even be surprised with how well you can maintain a relationship from the other side of the world (I know I am!)
All courses here (except Japanese) are taught in English, don't worry if you don't know the language!
Aside from the languages, it's an incredible experience to just be in another country, whether you've studied its culture extensively or not (keep in mind that if you decide to study abroad somewhere, a little research should be done on that countries norms, etc.) I can't describe enough how empowering it is to find yourself in a totally new country, surrounded by new culture, yet feeling perfectly comfortable. Honestly, I've not felt too homesick at all, because I love it here, if anything I just wish all my friends from home could be here with me since they're the ones I miss.
How could I want to leave when I have a view like this?!
So to wrap this up, I hope any student reading this post will consider studying abroad for even just a semester, it can be a challenging experience, but it is so unbelievably rewarding. I've gained so much independence and confidence in myself after being here for only a short time, and words cannot describe how amazing it is to be right in the middle of a brand new culture. If you have any questions about my experience abroad or just studying abroad in general, please comment on this post or feel free to get in touch with me through my W&J email or when I get back to campus (for any fellow Presidents that may be reading this).
Until next week,
Julia.
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