It’s probably safe to assume that you have decided to go on an exchange out of your own free will. For your study abroad experience, you have done copious amounts of research, you’ve read up on all the literature, you basically know your new city and school like the back of your hand – because, let’s face it, you’re so excited for your new adventure.
Imagine, however, that when you get there, your study abroad experience is not how you imagined it would be. For whatever reason, your classes aren’t as exciting as you had hoped for; your living situation is lackluster; even your new city doesn’t quite get you as excited as you had thought it would.
What would you do?
I found myself facing this particular dilemma not even one month into my one-year exchange in Seville, Spain, and it really scared me. There were tons of thoughts flying through my head, most of them centred around the fact that I knew I could not and would not go home early. What did this leave me with? I was left with what ended up being one of the best choices I have ever made: I applied to another new school abroad. I took control of my circumstances and made this the best exchange ever.
I got hold of my home university’s International Office, and to my dismay found out that unless I chose a school we were affiliated with, they were going to be of limited help. Though I had quite a few choices, none of the other European schools (I didn’t want to leave the continent!) got me excited.
So, I went back to square one. I asked myself what was it that I wanted to get out of my exchange, what did I want to study, and did I want to be somewhere big or small. After countless hours of research I narrowed down my search. I finally found the many branches of the Sciences Po in France. Further narrowing led me to the branch in the Northern city of Lille. I contacted their International Office, and from there got the information that I needed.
At this point, my home university jumped in and did what they could to help me. Helping me to distribute letters of permission, collect my letters of reference, and expedite everything over to me in time for the application deadline. The entire process was smooth, and not in the slightest stressful.
Within three weeks of finding my school of choice, I was accepted! I had done the majority of the work on my own. I had dotted all my I’s and crossed all my T’s, and I reaped all the benefits. Not only was I proud of myself, but I had taken control of what could have been a really bad situation, made the decision to change it, and become the master of my study abroad experience.
Remember, this is your time, you’re in the driver’s seat, and there’s no looking back.