To be completely frank, I was a complete mess when I was deciding where to study abroad. I was a huge ball of frenetic, anxious energy, overwhelmed with all of the unknown that I was currently faced with. I was standing at a fork in the road, and there were dozens upon dozens of different paths to choose from. It was my least favorite question to be asked at family gatherings and trips with my hometown friends: “So, where are you going to study abroad?” As the spring semester of my sophomore year drew to a close, I knew that I needed to come to a final decision. I had narrowed my options down to a small handful: Copenhagen, Rome, and London. I could see all of the different versions of myself living in these very different cities and tried to pin down the journey that I wanted to take. In a way, it kind of felt like shaking a Magic 8 Ball to decide my future, knowing that this singular decision would likely have a life-changing impact.
Each and every day, I thought through all of the different aspects of these different countries and where I could truly see myself being the most successful and experiencing the most positive personal and academic growth. Something that has always been incredibly important to me since I started college is taking advantage of any professional opportunities that are available to me, specifically through seeking out internships. While this may have been a slightly unconventional criteria to have for studying abroad, I felt very strongly that the opportunity to have an internship in another country would be incredibly beneficial to both my personal and professional growth. When I realized how important this criteria was to me, it rose to the top of my list of “wants” in a study abroad program. Knowing this, I began searching for programs that would offer this in the countries that I already knew I would want to study abroad in.
One of the first programs that I discovered was IES Abroad’s Study London program, a program offering students the opportunity to both take courses in their area of study and have an internship at a company located in London. As I continued to delve into the details of this program, I completely fell in love with it. Doing deeper research into the program also allowed me to gain a greater understanding of the experience that studying, working, and living in London would provide me, and I knew that it was an experience that I had to have. As I learned more and more about the city of London, I fell in love with the image of the life that I could have there. I have always been infatuated with learning everything that I can about different countries and different cultures through my experiences, and the endless possibilities for cultural immersion in London were something that really stuck with me. On a personal level, I knew that my life would be immensely enriched by the experience of living in London as a student and learning every single day from the people and the communities around me.
From the opportunity to intern in an area of my own personal passions to the ability to fully immerse myself in a city as diverse and immersive as London, I fell in love with the Study London program at IES Abroad. If I could give one piece of advice to any student in the process of deciding where to study abroad, it would be to center the things that you love and are passionate about. In our great wide world, there are endless opportunities to find people and communities who share the same passions that you do, and there’s no better time to explore this than as a student studying abroad. Do some soul-searching and know what you want to get out of your study abroad experience, and you will without a doubt find a program and a place that sparks joy and inspiration in your head and your heart.
