The Study Abroad Student (or, an expatriate)

My sister Brooke made me this brownie and sweet bread suitcase 

to wish me goodbye and happy travels.

Please note the excellent culinary craftsmanship. 

I think that such precious details of home are what I will miss most.

According to Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, among other definitions ranging from banishment to withdrawn allegiance, “expatriate” is an adjective used simply to describe someone living in a foreign country.

        I recognize that logistically speaking, I have no right to identify myself as an expatriate. I am neither a political dissident nor a Lost Generation artist living in Paris; I’m an undergraduate from suburban Colorado, neither a brilliant student nor a particularly adventurous personality type, going abroad to study and live for just under eight months. So it is with honest intention that I confess I employ (or abuse) the term expatriate because it is just so glamorous, so rich and romantic and full of courage. 

         Next Friday, September 23rd,  I leave DIA at 8 am for Miami, and from there I'll take Iberia airlines to Madrid Barajas airport. It still hasn't completely sunk in yet - I will be over five thousand miles from home, living and studying in a foreign country, in a language I hardly speak. Right now, I'm a mixture of excitement and nerves, and as I come to within a week of my departure, I've begun to think about how much I will miss my family and friends, this country, the comforts of language fluency. But even while my stomach churns in anticipation of the challenge (and the homesickness), I am simultaneously consumed with thoughts of all the things I hope to accomplish with this experience, all the dreams I have for a life of lucidity and exploration. As an amateur logophile, I am convinced that a powerful title like expatriate will bestow interminable bravery upon its wearer, and that's exactly what I need - something to carry with me, to make me feel as dauntless and eccentric as Ernest Hemingway or Salvador Dalí. 

          Now that I have clarified my self-bequeathed title, let me briefly introduce this blog. I am a Colorado State University student double majoring in biomedical sciences and English, and these two semesters abroad will hopefully fulfill a Spanish minor. Somehow, this year abroad has always been a part of my undergraduate plan; go to school, go abroad, graduate.  Jealous of several acquaintances who went for foreign exchange during high school, I went to college with the intention of studying abroad. Freshman year first semester, I attended the fall study abroad fair and amused everyone to whom I explained I was planning to go abroad my junior year (ok, well, come back again in four semesters). The first time I met my academic advisor, we discussed my desire to go abroad and carved junior year out of my four year plan. College has changed a lot of things. I initially applied for CSU thinking I'd like to be a veterinarian; since then I've acquired a liberal arts major, dropped veterinary medicine, and become almost totally lost in a multitude of potential career paths. One thing that hasn't changed is my desire to travel and experience the world: through all this indecision about my major and what I want to do with my life, this at least is a concrete desire that is coming to fulfillment. 

            This blog is a result of two things; a scholarship program that requires a project proposal, and a desire to write. While nothing could deter me from studying abroad, during my selection, application, and preparation process, I was often dazed and confused. Despite the staggering number of glossy catalogues depicting smiling students standing in front of national monuments, I found it very difficult to really get a grasp of what study abroad would be like. Alumni would rave about their wonderful experience to me, but I felt that I was lacking a genuinely comprehensive view of just what study abroad would be like - and how to go about it. So. As part of my Gilman International Scholarship scholar project, I proposed keeping a blog of my experience, so that prospective study abroad students could get a better idea of what living and studying abroad is really about. I'll try my best to sincerely describe the unique experience offered by international education, but I won't leave out any of the gritty details and challenges, either. Ultimately, I hope my stories and advice will be helpful and vivid, not to mention a great way for me to reflect on my personal journey.