terrified of year abroad

My year abroad is creeping up and I am so worried about it, it's starting to become all I think about. I am a joint honours student of beginners' French and Spanish. There are many reasons I'm dreading it, for example that the language barrier and my shyness will leave me friendless, accommodation issues, missing home, etc.

If anyone could offer any advice on how to stress out about it less or look forward to it I would appreciate it. I have considered dropping out because of how scared I am but I don't want to throw away all the effort I've put into university.

Reply 1

PQ

Clearing and Applications Advisor

21

Original post by Uyirpeariel

My year abroad is creeping up and I am so worried about it, it's starting to become all I think about. I am a joint honours student of beginners' French and Spanish. There are many reasons I'm dreading it, for example that the language barrier and my shyness will leave me friendless, accommodation issues, missing home, etc.

If anyone could offer any advice on how to stress out about it less or look forward to it I would appreciate it. I have considered dropping out because of how scared I am but I don't want to throw away all the effort I've put into university.

Wherever you go for your year abroad you won’t be the only English speaking student there. There’s a reason that international students studying in the uk tend to make friends with each other - it means that they can relax more in their social time without having to struggle with the language too. The same happens with english speakers in other countries. Other english speakers will be keen to be your friend while you’re away.

There will be support to find accommodation. Make sure that you use it and if you need extra help with your studies then ask for it. Talk to your family about homesickness and ask if they can help with the extra costs of staying in touch (phone bills) and see if you can get them to visit you while you’re away.

Reply 2

squeakysquirrel

20

Original post by Uyirpeariel

My year abroad is creeping up and I am so worried about it, it's starting to become all I think about. I am a joint honours student of beginners' French and Spanish. There are many reasons I'm dreading it, for example that the language barrier and my shyness will leave me friendless, accommodation issues, missing home, etc.

If anyone could offer any advice on how to stress out about it less or look forward to it I would appreciate it. I have considered dropping out because of how scared I am but I don't want to throw away all the effort I've put into university.

What a wonderful opportunity. What language barrier. You are studying these languages. Travel broadens the mind so much. You will make friends, you will have a great time and you will enrich your life in so many ways. Enjoy it

Reply 3

umbrellala

Universities Forum Helper

19

Original post by Uyirpeariel

My year abroad is creeping up and I am so worried about it, it's starting to become all I think about. I am a joint honours student of beginners' French and Spanish. There are many reasons I'm dreading it, for example that the language barrier and my shyness will leave me friendless, accommodation issues, missing home, etc.

If anyone could offer any advice on how to stress out about it less or look forward to it I would appreciate it. I have considered dropping out because of how scared I am but I don't want to throw away all the effort I've put into university.

You really don't need to worry about it! Thousands of students have done it before you, and the university will have guided plenty of students through the process too. You'll get over the language barrier when it comes to everyday stuff fairly quickly, it'll take longer in terms of making friends with natives but there are so many other people to make friends with that you won't be lonely at all. If you involve yourself in exchange student-focused activities you'll make friends super easily and naturally, and you'll have your classmates to make friends with too. Honestly don't worry at all about making friends, I found it 1000x easier to make friends on my year abroad compared to uni at home. Everyone's having to adjust to somewhere new and eager to meet people so it'll be fine :smile:

As for accommodation, different unis give different levels of support so my advice would be to talk to some students in the year/two years above you and grill them. That's what me and my classmates did before we went abroad and they gave us so much good advice (accommodation-wise and more broadly) that the teachers would've never been able to give us. Since you won't be going far, if you're really missing home you always know you can pop back for a few days. In my case, I'm in East Asia so there I've only got one opportunity in the whole year to go home (I wasn't even able to go home for Christmas!) but honestly I've never missed home much. Home starts to feel like another world completely and you're living in a bit of a bubble so after a few weeks home doesn't really cross your mind. There's always FaceTime and texting, and since there won't be much of a time difference for you it'll be super easy to stay in contact. If you've already experienced living away from home at uni the jump isn't all that dramatic, of course it'll be hard at first but you'll get into the swing of things

terrified of year abroad

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