10 Fears You Have When You Actually Start Your Study Abroad (2)

5. Getting bad news while abroad and not being able to do anything about it. Unfortunately this is one thing you can’t really control. This happened to me this past weekend and it completely sucks, but surrounding yourself with people who can help lift up your spirits is a must. Don’t just sit around and sulk because that could make you resent being abroad. Keep yourself busy and try to remember why you chose to study abroad in the first place.

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4. Getting so homesick you highly consider ending your trip early. Getting homesick is inevitable, but there are ways you could try to lessen the pain so that you don’t end up going home earlier than planned. Surround yourself with great people. Keep yourself busy. Don’t compare everything to your home. Go out and explore your area. Also, as much as you want to FaceTime your friends and family, try to keep it to a minimum. Constantly being in contact with people from home or constantly talking about home can make you miss it more.

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3. Offending someone accidentally. For the first week or so of your study abroad it’s a good idea to immerse yourself in the area and just observe everything from the night life to the way people behave in public places etc. If you’re abroad with a specific program try seeing if the directors of it can offer you any advice or do’s and don’ts. The best way to avoid this problem is to simply immerse yourself in the country and it’s culture and remain observant, but also cautious of your own actions.

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2. Being alone. When you choose to study abroad you might not always decide to go to the same country as some of your friends which means you’ll be on your own in a new country. If you get to live with other people then you should definitely get to know them first because you’ll probably be spending the most time with them. The other option is to make friends in your classes and see if anyone wants to hang out outside of class. There are always ways to avoid ending up alone, you just have to be willing to make an effort.

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1. Having high expectations and being let down. When we hear stories of people’s study abroad experiences they almost always leave out the bad moments which can cause us to romanticize everything and forget that it’s not always rainbows and sunshine. You may think that the experience is going to be perfect and you’ll get to do everything you could possibly imagine, but that’s not always true. You can’t really avoid having high expectations, but the best thing you can do for yourself is realize that you probably will have to make a few compromises. But even with a few compromises it’ll probably still be the best time of your life.

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