The first time I ever considered studying abroad was during my college tour. At the time,
With everything college life had to offer: stress, uncertainty, and the occasional identity
crisis. You couldn’t have told Fall 2024 me that I’d be studying abroad the very next year.
The following semester, I walked into a national fellowships information session on campus
and thought, Huh… this doesn’t seem that hard.
Spoiler: it isn’t impossible, but it is a journey of risk, growth, and persistence.
There are three things you should know before you go:
- The process is a course of its own, call it Study Abroad 101.
The time and effort you’ll put into scholarship essays, applications, meetings, and
documentation is serious academic-level work. It takes organization, patience, and a
ridiculous amount of tabs open on your laptop.
2. There are three phases, and each one matters.
Phase 1 is Research.
This is where you dig into everything. where you want to go, the type of program you’re
considering (exchange, affiliate partner, etc.), which provider, the eligibility requirements, the
scholarship opportunities available to you, and the deadlines for both your program and your
funding sources. It’s the groundwork that shapes every step that comes after.
This phase is basically detective work mixed with spreadsheet energy.
Phase 2: Action
Once you’ve gathered information, it’s go-time.
You apply to study abroad through your home institution and the program abroad. You also
submit scholarship applications, many of which require extensive documentation, essays,
transcripts, recommendations, and sometimes financial forms you didn’t even know existed.
Phase 3: The Leap of Faith
This is the part no one talks about.
For me, I wasn’t sure I’d have enough funding to cover tuition and still be able to actually
live abroad. I kept thinking, What if all this work is for nothing? What if the answer is no?
But I held on, with truly the faith of a mustard seed.
I was blessed to receive the Tamara H. Bryant Scholarship, which will help support my
tuition. This particular award means so much to me. Tamara Bryant traveled from Myanmar to India on foot, embodying resilience and determination. Her story inspires me and
motivates me to uphold the spirit with which the scholarship was created.
- Studying abroad is for anyone willing to work for it.
If you have curiosity, ambition, and the willingness to give your best effort, studying abroad
is within reach. You don’t need certainty. You just need courage and a plan.
So, what should you know before you go? That the journey won’t be simple, but it will be
worth it.