Our Ambassadors Unpack Their Biggest Study Abroad Fears

"I didn't know anyone from my program and went completely by myself. This ended up being the best decision I could've made, I became friends with so many locals and people in my program!"

"I chose my program and left for abroad completely alone and knowing no one, but this fear was relieved as early as arriving at my home airport...IES had sent us so much amazing information before our departure, including a list of the flights everyone was going to be traveling on. It turned out that a lot of people who were also in my program were on the same flight and we actually ended up meeting at the gate and socializing before even leaving the United States. Immediately I realized that I was not alone, as most of us were in the same boat. Everyone was so friendly and kind right from the start and we all had the same goal - make friends and have an amazing experience."

"Before studying abroad, I was scared of not knowing anyone in my program. In the first few days of being in Dublin, I quickly realized that most of the other students also came abroad not knowing anyone. It was really comforting to remember that we were all there because we wanted to broaden our horizons...My best advice would be to be open to new adventures and opportunities especially during the first few weeks."

"Although it was initially super intimidating, I fell in love with the independence and confidence I gained abroad."

"I was afraid to travel alone. It was something I've never done before & I had only been on a plane ride once...Now, I want to travel all over the world - alone! There is something so freeing about embarking on your own adventurous journey."

"I was nervous about traveling overseas by myself since I started off on the wrong foot. My flight got delayed by a day and it really threw me off but after that everything ended up being easy. I ended up traveling a lot on the weekends and would take trains, planes, buses and even hike to new places."

"I was so worried that I would not be able to communicate with people very well but people were a lot more open and accepting to my attempt at Spanish than I imagined."

"Before study abroad, I had barely any cooking skills and was worried about cooking for myself and going grocery shopping in an entirely new country...with a lot of trial and error and the help of my friends and flatmates, I realized I had nothing to be scared of. I ended up learning some new recipes and various cooking skills and having the best experiences cooking with and learning from my friends and flatmates."

"I was so nervous to learn my way around grocery stores! Especially with a different layout, product selection, and everything being in Italian… so scary! But also very easy once I went!"

"The biggest thing that I was afraid of before studying abroad was missing out on all of the big events that happen during the fall that are always a great time with family and friends, like Halloween, Thanksgiving, Black Friday...what I didn't realize was that for the same holidays I was missing, I was celebrating others that were considered special to the country I was studying abroad in, like the Mid-Autumn Festival."