Studying abroad is so amazing, so great that I almost decided to do it again. But, do you want to know what will make your study abroad trip, not just great but, extraordinary?
GOALS!!!!
Make some goals, girl. And these goals should not be boring. Study abroad goals will allow you to make sure that you experience everything that you dreamed of. If you want to spend all of your time traveling, where are you going and when? If you want to immerse yourself in the culture, what steps are you taking to do this?
Goals are important no matter what you are doing because they will help you reach where you want to be. For example, my ultimate purpose for studying abroad in Costa Rica was to practice my Spanish. The goals I made listed explicitly what I was going to do to accomplish this.
I have compiled steps that helped me to create my goals (pictured above) and make the most of my goal making. By the end of this post, you should be able to do the same. Then, you will be able to accomplish everything that you dreamed about when applying to study abroad.
STEP ONE: Why do you want to study abroad?
Why do you want to study abroad? What do you hope to accomplish from this experience?
Are you trying to expand your horizons by traveling to another country for the first time? Are you learning a new language? Is this a strategic career move that will benefit you in the long run? Or is it simply required?
Think deeply. What is motivating you to pack up your stuff and go to another country for a whole semester or year? What is your objective?
STEP TWO: What are you going to do?
Brainstorm what you will do while abroad to accomplish your objective (objective = the reason why you decided to go abroad). We have to find a way to turn your study abroad objective into action. For example, if you want to immerse yourself in the culture you can: find somewhere to volunteer, live with a host family, make friends at your host university, and/or attend cultural events.
Depending on what your purpose is for studying abroad, will determine what you choose to do to fulfill that objective.
STEP THREE: HOW OFTEN?
Now, you have to figure out how often you will participate in these activities. For example, how many days out of the week will you volunteer, how often will you meet your conversation partner, etc.
I was not able to complete this step until I was abroad in Costa Rica, which might be the case for you as well. For instance, setting up the volunteering and the conversation partner program were programs that had to be finalized abroad.
STEP FOUR: ARE YOU STILL IN THE GAME?
Come up with a system to monitor the completion of your goals. I struggled with this the most. I would have goals listed about what I needed to do every week but sometimes I would skip out on them (which is totally okay to do every once in a while but definitely not constantly).
I suggest writing it down in your planner because you will be more likely to complete the task in order to check off the boxes. Checking off the boxes will give you a sense of satisfaction and shows the progress you are making. Also, you could make a blog to document your experience where you can do weekly updates about what you were able to complete and your experience doing it.
MAJOR KEY: At any time, if you look at your goals and feel burdened to complete them, you might need to re-evaluate what you are doing. Your goals should excite you and help you to reach your ultimate purpose.
I hope this has provided some guidance that will help you to make the most of your study abroad experience and in the words of my friend “No matter what you do, it’s going to be great.”