Some friendly advice ;o)
This was also my answer to my last question How do you rate your overall experience and what would I want future study abroad students to know? It's a bit Vienna-specific, but I tried to adjust it to apply to several scenarios -whether it's studying abroad, going on a traineeship, traveling, or heck, even at home or on campus! Hmm...though I know several of you guys on exchange at the moment can't exactly read this blog....
My time in Vienna was a hugely eye-opening experience for me that felt much like a dream I did not want to end. I loved every minute of it there and continued every day to wake up in awe that I was actually living such an experience in Vienna (also ranked the #1 city on Mercer's Best Quality of Living List while we were there). My advice to future study abroad students or any traveler anywhere is to truly exploit your opportunity...
Get to know everyone. Start and engage in meaningful conversations. Challenge and discuss stereotypes and perceptions. Put yourself in challenging situations. If you have the financial means, travel - its well worth the investment (even if it's a loan!). Travel with different groups of people. Meet as many locals as you can while you travel. Try contacting the other UIUC students studying abroad, other trainees you know, or other AIESEC members in general in other cities you want to visit either to stay with or show you around. Even if you don't know them yet - it's a whole different experience! Make a conscious effort to get to know the culture and way of life. Take classes you otherwise can't at U of I. Try foods you can't at home. Try the delicious cafes, bakeries, and chocolates. Don't forget to eat healthy. Cook for a group. Start a trend. Show visitors and new trainees around the city - it's how I got to be so familiar with Vienna! Walk around the city. Get lost. Wander and explore the areas that aren't starred on the map. Explore all the places and seek activities that you cannot anywhere else. Make a mental or physical list of things you want to do or see in the city, and start doing them right away! Don't wait for the last minute - better to have done them already or do them again than to miss out on doing them at all! Get to know your roommates. Maintain your friendships and make time for them while you are there - you'll have a certain group that will become your world and define much of your experience there. Meet them again if you can - reunions are absolutely the best! Get involved in other activities while you are abroad - it'll give you a new perspective on the life there and a great way to meet more people! Go with your friend and roommates for a day at their traineeship. Take care of not only yourself, but others too. Take pictures to capture both your favorite experiences and the everyday ones - so much happens in a month, a week, a day that I would have forgotten them if it weren't for the pictures I took! Plus your family and friends would want to see them. Take your own initiative. Make everyday an opportunity to do something new or do something that scares you, or both! The time is now. Don't wait - live up and soak in every minute - this is truly once in a lifetime.
From an email 2 years ago full of advice from Muff when he was halfway through his first traineeship in Kenya and I was just starting mine in Morocco:
- Be completely open, don't be shy. Be friendly and smiling and all that good stuff.
- Sometimes people might not come and seek you out and say hi and get to know you and what you are about, so don't be scared to go and seek them out and be like what's up.
- Be polite as you can, try not to be the dumb ignorant uncultured american.
- AIESEC is the organization that has made this opportunity possible, but you are not bound by AIESEC. If they aren't giving you enough, or if you want more, you CAN go outside of AIESEC and find other things to do or get involved with.
- Never stay in.
- Dont let a single day go wasted.
- Look both ways before you cross the street.
And once during a conversation with the brilliant Nisha Mathur who did her traineeship last summer in Uganda:
- Never sleep and take a million chances.
I think what we are all trying to say in very generic terms is that your time is short and make sure you make the most of it!! (for both your time abroad...and in your life when applicable!)
My time in Vienna was a hugely eye-opening experience for me that felt much like a dream I did not want to end. I loved every minute of it there and continued every day to wake up in awe that I was actually living such an experience in Vienna (also ranked the #1 city on Mercer's Best Quality of Living List while we were there). My advice to future study abroad students or any traveler anywhere is to truly exploit your opportunity...
Get to know everyone. Start and engage in meaningful conversations. Challenge and discuss stereotypes and perceptions. Put yourself in challenging situations. If you have the financial means, travel - its well worth the investment (even if it's a loan!). Travel with different groups of people. Meet as many locals as you can while you travel. Try contacting the other UIUC students studying abroad, other trainees you know, or other AIESEC members in general in other cities you want to visit either to stay with or show you around. Even if you don't know them yet - it's a whole different experience! Make a conscious effort to get to know the culture and way of life. Take classes you otherwise can't at U of I. Try foods you can't at home. Try the delicious cafes, bakeries, and chocolates. Don't forget to eat healthy. Cook for a group. Start a trend. Show visitors and new trainees around the city - it's how I got to be so familiar with Vienna! Walk around the city. Get lost. Wander and explore the areas that aren't starred on the map. Explore all the places and seek activities that you cannot anywhere else. Make a mental or physical list of things you want to do or see in the city, and start doing them right away! Don't wait for the last minute - better to have done them already or do them again than to miss out on doing them at all! Get to know your roommates. Maintain your friendships and make time for them while you are there - you'll have a certain group that will become your world and define much of your experience there. Meet them again if you can - reunions are absolutely the best! Get involved in other activities while you are abroad - it'll give you a new perspective on the life there and a great way to meet more people! Go with your friend and roommates for a day at their traineeship. Take care of not only yourself, but others too. Take pictures to capture both your favorite experiences and the everyday ones - so much happens in a month, a week, a day that I would have forgotten them if it weren't for the pictures I took! Plus your family and friends would want to see them. Take your own initiative. Make everyday an opportunity to do something new or do something that scares you, or both! The time is now. Don't wait - live up and soak in every minute - this is truly once in a lifetime.
From an email 2 years ago full of advice from Muff when he was halfway through his first traineeship in Kenya and I was just starting mine in Morocco:
- Be completely open, don't be shy. Be friendly and smiling and all that good stuff.
- Sometimes people might not come and seek you out and say hi and get to know you and what you are about, so don't be scared to go and seek them out and be like what's up.
- Be polite as you can, try not to be the dumb ignorant uncultured american.
- AIESEC is the organization that has made this opportunity possible, but you are not bound by AIESEC. If they aren't giving you enough, or if you want more, you CAN go outside of AIESEC and find other things to do or get involved with.
- Never stay in.
- Dont let a single day go wasted.
- Look both ways before you cross the street.
And once during a conversation with the brilliant Nisha Mathur who did her traineeship last summer in Uganda:
- Never sleep and take a million chances.
I think what we are all trying to say in very generic terms is that your time is short and make sure you make the most of it!! (for both your time abroad...and in your life when applicable!)
posted by Cynthia at
3:30 PM
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