Before I left for New Zealand, every Tom, Dick, and Harry told me “this is going to be the best semester of your life!” Now that I’m here, it’s easy for me to agree! But if you’d asked me even a week ago, you would have received a totally different answer. In the months I spent preparing to go abroad, my anxiety had convinced me this “best semester” cliche couldn’t possibly come true– my visa wouldn’t come on time, I’d show up on Move-in day to find my housing canceled by a system error, or my luggage would fall out the belly of the airplane and sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Fortunately, none of these things happened. Since my studies began, I have developed a new perspective and can offer advice on how to manage study abroad anxiety.
Finding The Right Location
My anxiety began way back during the application process. I stared at pages of potential locations, all marketing themselves as an academically desirable paradise, and feared I would choose wrong. My eyes jumped from Spain to Switzerland, to the Czech Republic; I worried it would be like meeting someone after only seeing their social media– their personality is not what you’d expect from all those curated posts.
My advice is to focus less on features found in every country such as cuisine, architecture, landmarks, and festivals. Attending Oktoberfest may be a dream of yours, but that shouldn’t be what drove you to study in Berlin if the trade-off is city living. And you don’t like cities. Instead, focus on lifestyle. Narrow down your choices by determining the weather, language barriers, a cost of living you are comfortable with, plus one activity you consistently want access to. Then, cross-check that with universities that cater to the classes you need. In my case, that is fall weather in an English-speaking country with a moderate cost of living and plentiful access to the outdoors. This led me to New Zealand and further helped me choose between the two program options. The city of Auckland is more expensive than the city of Christchurch, and so my decision became easy. Christchurch!
Remember, you’ll be in this location for six months, not for a week-long vacation. Basing your program decision on lifestyle factors will curate a more positive study abroad experience, and lessen environmental stressors that make it hard for you to thrive.
Travel
I have traveled outside of the country once, so the idea of spending more than 24 hours on long flights was pretty intimidating. Sure, I worried about overpacking, underpacking, or the trip turning into Final Destination 6, but the reality of travel is incredibly boring. You wait in security, wait at the gate, wait to board, and wait for the snack trolley to come down your aisle.
My suggestions all come down to distractions, but don’t put pressure on yourself to try anything new. Bring a book you enjoy rereading and download comfort movies. Stock up on delicious snacks that have never given you a stomachache. Splurge on a neck pillow. Sleep. Buy a meal if you have a connecting flight, but nothing exotic and fancy. People watch and guess where your fellow travelers are going and why.
Beyond distractions, I recommend buying a travel wallet on Amazon so you can keep your passport, license, boarding pass, and credit card all in the same place. This advice comes from someone who did not have a perfect travel experience. I missed one of my connecting flights and raced to standby for the next flight. I bought a meal I never had before and ruminated in stomach pain for the following thirteen-hour flight. Still, I left the Christchurch International Airport wiser, albeit a little wary of airport food.
The odds of dying in a plane crash are 1 in 11 million, so really your biggest worry should be if the plane snacks are good.
Friends
Making friends is a normal concern before a major move. To my relief, and hopefully yours, I’ve discovered that there is a friendly open feel in a study abroad setting beyond the typical first semester back in the States.
The desire and urgency to socialize are heightened when family feels worlds away, international students reach for each other for a support network. We quickly bond over exploring our new home– the campus, the city, the restaurant scene, all the way to nearby countries. The conversations bounce from SIM cards to travel recommendations to laughing over the cultural shocks we’ve had; in the same day, we’re on the bus together and headed to the beach.
Study abroad students are also intent on pushing their boundaries for one or two semesters, so you’ll find many unexpected opportunities to make friends. For me, that was surfing! I had no idea surfing is so easily accessible here before I arrived, and it was a welcome surprise. Study abroad students are also a smaller community on campus, so you’ll naturally reach for each other first. To make friends outside of international students, you’ll have to put in a bit more effort. But, with attending classes, joining clubs, and an open mindset, friends outside of your program will come.
Housing
You’ve had a bad roommate experience in the past, and the idea of rolling the housing dice again feels like insanity, as Albert Einstein defined it: doing the same thing over again and expecting different results. This time around, you’ll have to be preventative in order to avoid conflict.
Have an apartment/roommate meeting and lay down the ground rules within the first week. Be sure to discuss dishes, trash duty, cooking and food sharing, common space expectations, and your personal conflict management style. Are you direct, or do you avoid confrontation? Would you rather have an issue brought up in private, or in a group? These discussions facilitate positive living dynamics because issues go beyond personality differences like back home, but now include cultural differences and language barriers you won’t always see coming. Get to know your roommates by sharing a meal or having a game night so you’ll better understand their behavior if a conflict arises. If there are any serious issues, you can always contact housing to see about moving your accommodations.
Study abroad anxiety stems from fear of the unknown.
Once you unpack from your long flight or meet that first friend, that worst-case scenario you sat on for months becomes anxiety-fueled fiction. This isn’t to say you’ll never face a challenge during your time abroad, but in my experience, much of the “what if” anxiety subsides after the first week. Soon those “best semester” oo’s and ah’s will become your reality.
