Results for: study abroad

Which Brings Us Back to Study Abroad…

Posted on by sennajandy

Well, here we are again. Another post about the possibility of studying abroad.

My best friend from college, Era, and I are both very interested in studying abroad. We even found a decently-priced program outside of our college that could take us where we want to go.

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But, of course, Era and I are different people. Meaning, we want to go to different places. 

Era wants to study in Germany, I want to study in London. Which brings me back to this post. I want to study abroad. I don’t know if I could study abroad alone. 

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The program we looked at will take students abroad for six weeks for a pretty decent price. When you think about it, six weeks isn’t long at all. But, then again, when you think about it with an anxiety-ridden mind, six weeks is a long time. 

Most people I’ve talked to have said studying abroad was the best decision they’ve ever made. I want to be able to experience that. However, there’s a part of me that thinks I might lose my shit once I get overseas.

So, naturally, I’m going to sit here and slam my head against a wall until I figure out what to do.

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Wish me luck, squadlings!

 

 

Study abroad?

Posted on by sennajandy

Studying abroad seems like a rite of passage in college. Almost everyone studies abroad at some point in college. However, for students with mental illness, that’s not too easy.

I have anxiety, and I would consider it to be pretty severe. Let me put it in perspective: I’m 18 years old and I’ve had probably four sleepovers in my life. When I was little, I COULD NOT leave home for a night. Even when my parents got divorced, I never wanted to stay at my dad’s new house because, well, it wasn’t home. Hell, I go to community college and live at home. As I’ve gotten older, I can handle a night away at my cousin’s house 20 minutes away now. But 20 minutes is a lot different than 3,956 miles.

I found out about studying abroad through a poster in the Student Life Center at my college. There seemed like an endless list of places you could go; Germany, Ireland, Thailand, China, Belize…But one in particular stuck out to me: London.

My school is offering a thirteen-day trip to London, England over the summer, where those participating go to plays, musicals, comedy performances, and so on and so forth in London. I was a theater kid in high school, I did everything from helping build sets to directing a full-blown One Act play for Fine Arts Week. I loved being a theater kid. That’s why this London trip should be a dream come true, right?

Wrong. It’s not my high school theater crew anymore. It’s college kids, all of whom I’ve never even met. Sure, they go to my school, but it’s kind of hard to make a ton of friends at a college that has five campuses. I’ve never even met these people, and I’d be spending thirteen days in a hostel in Central London with them.

That, and I’ve never been away from home for more than three days. To go from spending a night in a town 20 minutes over with my cousins to thirteen days halfway across the world is a bit of a jump, no? For someone with anxiety, you can imagine how horrible that sounds.

However, there’s another part of me that’s like, hey, it’s only thirteen days. I plan on going to a university three hours from home when I transfer out of my current community college, so thirteen days is nothing.

I also feel like I need to prove to myself and my family that I can do it. I can tell my mom seems a bit worried about the whole thing, and my dad, who rarely brings up my anxiety, even asked me today, “Are you sure you can handle it?” To be honest with you, Father, no, I’m not sure.

I want to be able to handle it. The trip sounds amazing, and sounds like it would be a lot of fun. Sure, I don’t know anyone now, but I would meet my traveling crew before we left for London, and hey, we’d be roommates, so I’d meet them anyway. The problem is staying away from home for two weeks.

I don’t know if I’d be able to pull it off. Thinking of it now, it sounds terrifying. But when I got there, would my mind change? Would I love the city so much that I’d forget about life here in Wisconsin for thirteen days? Or would I be sitting in the hostel while the other kids in my group ran around London, crying and FaceTiming my mom so I can get a quick glimpse of life back home before dinner?

I have until late January to decide what to do, and as of now, I’m leaning towards pushing myself to do this. I’m 18, I’ll be 19 by the time the trip leaves, and I need to learn to get away from home before I end up 40 years old and living in my mom’s basement.london22

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What I’d be leaving behind

What to do When Your Best Friend Moves Across the World: Cry A Lot

Posted on by sennajandy

Happy New Year, squadlings!

Of course, the New Year isn’t so happy for ME right about now. It’s January 1st, meaning today is the day when my 19-year-old cousin, who is also one of my best friends, moves to London for six months with a study abroad program from her school. Cue hardcore sobs right…NOW.

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Today marks the beginning of six months without my best friend. I don’t know how I’m going to take that.

My cousin, let’s call her Beth, goes to college in a different state with an hour time difference. That’s fine, that’s not much of a gap. But London, compared to good ol’ Wisconsin, is a six hour time gap. hillary-duff

It’s also in a different COUNTRY, meaning I had to download an app just so I can text her. Our group text message with her, our friend Ari, and Beth’s sister is going to have to go on hold for a while, as Beth can’t send us messages from that number anymore.

So, what do you do when your best friend moves across the world for school? Well, you can lay in bed and listen to sad songs and cry all day, which is exactly what I plan to do. tumblr_lr1bscvwfo1qf924co2_250

Don’t get me wrong: I’m so excited for Beth to be going to London like this. And hey, if I go to London this summer, maybe she can tell me all the cool places she went. My point is, I’ve never had my best friend leave the country for six months. It’s going to be hard to adjust to, but eventually, once we get the hang of it, I think it will be so cool to learn about all the cool stuff Beth is doing overseas!

 

Until we meet again, squadlings.

College is Kicking My Ass

Posted on by sennajandy

Apologies for the lack of posting these past few days, finals start at my college on Tuesday and I’m about to rip my hair out.

Which brings me to this post.

For someone who is only taking a total of nine credits, college is beating the crap out of me. I should have expected this, but truly, I guess I wasn’t really thinking about it.

My grades are ok; an AB, an A (I think, my teacher rarely posts on Blackboard), and a BC (oops). The problem isn’t the homework, in fact, the homework isn’t even that hard. It’s the AMOUNT of homework.

I have a paper to do every other week, a worksheet for this class, a quiz or test in this class, etc. The workload is ripping me to shreds. I’m exhausted literally all the time. I feel like I haven’t had a moment of free time since the Cold War.

I know what you’re thinking: “Suck it up, it’s only going to get worse once you get into the work force.” I know. I understand that. It still sucks ass now, though.

Aside from the study abroad application for London, which you can read about in a previous post of mine, I have a 200 point Psychology paper AND my English final to finish this weekend, hence why this post is short and completely sucks.

Wish me luck. Until we meet again, squadlings.