For those of you who don't know, I found out yesterday that I received the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship! I praise the Lord for this blessing and opportunity! One of the great things about this scholarship (beside the fact that it defrays study abroad costs) is that it's much more than just money in your pocket! Many Gilman scholars are invited to international events while abroad and every scholar is encouraged to apply to the Gilman Alumni program after their study abroad experience. Also, every scholar is required to do a follow-on service project. This is the part that I'm really excited about and is one of the reasons that I created this blog. For my follow on service project, I've decided to share my experiences with a couple of schools (namely my alma mater, Highland High School!) by giving a presentation and holding a question and answer session. For my own sake, and for those who would like to read it, I created this blog to document my experience and to help in putting together my presentation after I return. In this blog I plan to include many accounts of my experience, photos, journals, and tips for future study abroad students. I hope that anyone reading this who is thinking about studying abroad will find it helpful and interesting!
One of my first tips for all you future study abroad students (SASs for short!) is to be forewarned:... study abroad is a mountain of paperwork! But something tells me that it is going to be totally worth it! From your college application, the program application, to your student visa...it seems like the paperwork never ends. Oh, and don't forget scholarship applications! It's kind of like applying for college all over again! But I don't want to scare you. With the proper amount of preparation, organization, and plain ole' hard work...it is definitely doable! I can't wait to get to Spain and tell you just how worth it it is. :-)
The photos below are just one example of how I've attempted to keep myself sane. I made a binder of all the important documents and papers that I've had to fill out for USAC (University Studies Abroad Consortium). One day I printed them all off and filed them into this binder. I have like 23 tabs, one for each document, separated into 5 sections by category (important forms to complete, informational documents, course information, etc...). (By the way, don't judge the unmade bed. I'm attempting to pack up my dorm room today because I'm moving out and making my bed just isn't really up there on the priority list today!)
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Anyway, I hope I didn't bore you too much with this post. But I thought it was about time for me to start writing about my pre-study abroad experiences. Please subscribe and share the blog with anyone you think might be interested!!!
¡Gracias y adios!
Abby
