The Study Abroad Decision

How I made the decision to study abroad

The decision to study abroad was the best decision I have ever made. However, I’m not going to pretend that this was an easy or quick decision to make, especially for someone as undeniably indecisive and worrisome as me. If you’re reading this as a prospective study abroad student, parent or friend, please stick with me to see how this headache of a dilemma resolved itself. 

It wasn’t until my parents helped me research universities whilst I was at college that I realised that partaking in an integrated study abroad year was possible. As a somewhat homely and reserved 17-year old, I was unsure whether this would be an opportunity I could imagine myself taking. However, it was nevertheless not one I was prepared to deny my future self and so I applied and achieved my first choice university, in the knowledge that they offered study abroad years and I could decide what to do when the time came. Flash-forward two years and I found myself in my second year at Sussex university, at an introductory meeting for study abroad, with the same dilemma, only this time more pressing: should I stay or should I go? 

I have always loved travelling, exploring new places, meeting new people and trying new things. I think it would be difficult to find someone who doesn’t. So naturally, the idea of studying abroad appealed to me. However, there is a huge difference between holidaying and studying abroad. Holidaying entails packing for a fortnight, with the promise of home before you even realise you’ve been gone. Studying abroad means packing up your life with no clear concept of what home will resemble or feel like when you return a year or so later. This would be a big decision for anyone, but particularly for those of us who, like me, tend to exercise on the side of caution. My ‘um-ing’ and ‘ah-ing’ was only complicated further by the fact that many of my friends were proceeding into their final year and thus graduating and moving on before me. I was understandably a little uneasy about my future upon return to Sussex: who would I live with? Who would I go to for my nights-out or my girl’s night in? Who would I complain to about the ridiculous amount of course reading? 

This wasn’t made any easier when some people questioned why I would do a study year abroad rather than just travel after uni, to which it is useful to refer back to the distinct difference between living abroad and holidaying abroad. 

However, after lengthy discussions with my closest friends and family, as well as my tutors and those who had returned from their year abroad, I decided that this was an opportunity I could not pass up. How often do you get to the opportunity to live and study in a different country, for a year?  To further my education, fine-tune my interests and explore a new country all at the same time. Next, it was a question of where in the world I would apply. This was less challenging. Australia had always been top of my list to travel to; the warm climate, the beach life and the friendly people, what’s not to love? Unlike just holidaying there, a huge perk of being a student in the country is the student visa which allows you to have a lengthy stay. Thanks to my hard work in my first year of uni, I secured one of two places at my first choice, the University of Queensland, Brisbane.  So despite my concerns and anxiety upon hearing “you’ll have time of your life”, I consider myself incredibly lucky to have been able to spend a year in my dream country, meeting and making friends with people from all over the world and learning about their cultures too. Studying abroad really was the adventure of a lifetime.