My personal experiences of going abroad include as a delegate to a C.I.S.V. international summer camp in Klintagård, near Malmo, Sweden in 1970 (similar in some ways to going abroad as an exchange student), studying abroad as a postgraduate student from 2003-2007, and also helping to lead a study abroad program for two summers.
I have also worked to support myself while involved with study abroad in the Czech Republic, Italy and in Britain. I have held various part-time jobs and moneymaking arrangements to pay for lodging, books, travel and food.
I have successfully written applications and received grants, scholarships, research funds, supplemental living grants and other sources including awards for outstanding achievement.
I have taken mostly as a student or occasionally taught part- and full-classes and college level courses at the following schools and universities:
Youngstown State University, Youngstown, Ohio, USA
Kent State University, Stark Campus, Akron-Canton, Ohio, USA
Malone College, Canton, Ohio, USA
SUNY at New Paltz, New Paltz, New York, USA
University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Palm Beach Community College, Lake Worth, Florida, USA
Miami School of Entertainment & Design, Miami-Dade College, Miami, Florida, USA
Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA
Cardiff School of Creative & Cultural Industries, ATRiuM, University of Glamorgan, Cardiff, Wales, UK
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, University of Glamorgan, Trefforest, Wales, UK
L’Università degli studi di Molise, Campobasso, Italy
L’Università degli studi di Molise, Termoli, Italy
When you are starting out, the process of writing personal statements and completing forms for colleges and for government agencies can seem overwhelming.
I hope my experience and accumulated wisdom in these areas can be of help to others, especially students like myself.
One tip I can pass along today is that very early on I took a basic computer course to make myself adept and skilled at word-processing and copy-and-paste, emailing and printing techniques.
I can’t say how much this helped me!
After this I was able to ‘automate’ the process of applying to school, and I got disciplined about creating a schedule and ‘To Do’ list – that is, a list of schools to contact and scholarships to apply to.
Managing all this while going to school and taking care of my home responsibilities wasn’t easy, but it helped me to grow up a bit more.
For example, every Christmas & Easter break, while finishing my B.A. degree, I saved money to pay for postage costs and copying costs, and then I spend time during these holidays (once I had spent quality time with my family) writing applications.
This was a small sacrifice, but I had to resist the urge to join everyone else going out every other night to restaurants or movies, and I had to resist surfing Amazon.com for hours looking for After-Christmas sales, etc.
But in the end, all my sacrifices paid off, and I was able to get ‘all my ducks in a row’ to study abroad.
So don’t get discouraged, if you feel alone with your dream to study abroad. You are not alone!
Thanks and good luck with your bright and promising future!
Comment ça va? Ici on parle Français. / Ciao! Qua parliamo italiano.
Click here to go directly to my personal blog page called Adoration of Beauty and the Grotesque, on the World Wide Web.
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© 2009 Dr. Mark Leslie Woods
