5 Reasons Why You Should Study Abroad As a College Student

A little background on me, I am currently a senior in college living in the United States. Last summer I was able to have the opportunity to study abroad in London for 4 weeks (Before this I had never been outside of the United States). I was nervous, anxious, and beyond excited. Similar feelings to when leaving for college to start your freshman year. That being said, I am sure many people have those same feelings but it is beyond worth the experience.

The 5 reasons why you should study abroad:

1. When are you going to have the time in your life to set a semester, month, or even a couple weeks aside once you graduate and begin working?

• This is something that really hit home to me, the more I thought about it I realized that this could potentially be the only opportunity that I will ever have. In America, you graduate and you begin working and jobs are extremely competitive. Imagine walking into your bosses office and saying "Hey, I will be gone for the next month." How would that go over? Not well right? Thats my point exactly. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!

1. You will make memories and connections that will last you a lifetime

• Lucky for me I had a couple buddies go with me on the trip and made many more friends with classmates. Usually study abroad trips are focused on specific majors per trip. If you are a business major like me, the classmates and friends are new connections that you will have in your life. They could potentially be your boss, co worker, or even your lawyer somewhere down the road. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!

1. It is cheaper going on the trip through schools than going on your own

• My school is very big on study abroad so they give many different scholarships to make it very affordable to everyone. That being said, I am sure many other schools have that same mentality, you just have to search around the internet or get in contact with the right people to guide you. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!

1. Classes in London

• Lets be real, study abroad classes are not hard at all. They want you to go for the experience and not to grill you with homework and tests. While I was there they made two of the hardest classes that I was supposed to take for my major a breeze. No tests and a few assignments. Some of those assignments being class field trips. If they give homework, it won't be much. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!

1. Opportunity to leave your home country

• I would imagine that many people are similar to me. I had never been outside of my home country. I had never experienced anything like it. It was very eye opening to see how other people live on a day to day basis. If you are from the United States like I am, you have never seen this beautiful architecture that Europe has to offer besides on the internet or something of that nature. FYI, the internet does not do it justice. It is truly breathtaking to see some of this stuff in person. At the end of it all, I began to realize many of the things that I took for granted back home. TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!

Overall, studying abroad is a wonderful opportunity to grow in yourself, take less things for granted, and have the experience of a lifetime. So, one last time TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY NOW AND GO ON THE TRIP!