Welcome!
Dear lovely reader,
There are so many thoughts that are going through my head. What better way than to collect them all than through a blog? I hope this journal keeps my travel memories safe and warm. I hope this journal reminds readers to never stop dreaming about the world around us. And if this inspires one person to get up and want to study abroad, I have done enough.
First let me start with the preparation. It definitely wasn't easy. I kept going back and forth whether I wanted to do it, partly because I was scared. It just took me a little while to realize that was the reason. It was the fear of losing the familiarity and losing the comfort. "Go out of your comfort zone," everyone says. But what is often overlooked is that once you get out of one zone, you fall into another. But what made me turn around was the fear of losing this incredible opportunity. This chance only comes once in a life time. And from what I keep hearing, "You only live once."
I applied in Summer 2012, 6 months before the embarkation date. The tough part is that Semester at Sea really has no deadline for the application process. So timing is all on the applicant's hand. Next, apply for all the scholarships and financial aid you can get. One of the precautions I took before submitting the deposit was that I was financially secure. If you are paying out of your pocket more than ten grand alone for the program fee, you should probably bow out (but that's just my thought). The second precaution before submitting the deposit was making sure all my courses I take abroad will in fact transfer credit over to my home school, UC Irvine. This was probably the most aggravating part because it is basically a petition-and-wait-for-a-response game. But the academic and study abroad counselors were very helpful with this process. Once those are set, submit the deposit and everything else will fall into place. And if at first it doesn't, ask questions and make some calls until they do.
Thank you readers! More posts to come. :)
Your friendly explorer,
Kim
There are so many thoughts that are going through my head. What better way than to collect them all than through a blog? I hope this journal keeps my travel memories safe and warm. I hope this journal reminds readers to never stop dreaming about the world around us. And if this inspires one person to get up and want to study abroad, I have done enough.
First let me start with the preparation. It definitely wasn't easy. I kept going back and forth whether I wanted to do it, partly because I was scared. It just took me a little while to realize that was the reason. It was the fear of losing the familiarity and losing the comfort. "Go out of your comfort zone," everyone says. But what is often overlooked is that once you get out of one zone, you fall into another. But what made me turn around was the fear of losing this incredible opportunity. This chance only comes once in a life time. And from what I keep hearing, "You only live once."
I applied in Summer 2012, 6 months before the embarkation date. The tough part is that Semester at Sea really has no deadline for the application process. So timing is all on the applicant's hand. Next, apply for all the scholarships and financial aid you can get. One of the precautions I took before submitting the deposit was that I was financially secure. If you are paying out of your pocket more than ten grand alone for the program fee, you should probably bow out (but that's just my thought). The second precaution before submitting the deposit was making sure all my courses I take abroad will in fact transfer credit over to my home school, UC Irvine. This was probably the most aggravating part because it is basically a petition-and-wait-for-a-response game. But the academic and study abroad counselors were very helpful with this process. Once those are set, submit the deposit and everything else will fall into place. And if at first it doesn't, ask questions and make some calls until they do.
Thank you readers! More posts to come. :)
Your friendly explorer,
Kim
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