10 things to know before studying abroad – Reality check

Hey Everyone This Is The Time When A Lot Of You Must Be Submitting Your Applications To Study Abroad I Know You Can’t Wait To Start Your Career In A New Country Your Seniors And Alumni Would Have Given You A Beautiful Picture About The Perks Of Studying Abroad So Here I Am Ready To Give You A Reality Check Something Most People Won’t Tell You So Let’s Begin

Introduction

Today I’m Going To Share With You 10 Things You Should Know Before Studying Abroad I’m Going To Get Straight To The Point So Without Further Delay Let’s Get Started The First Thing You Should Know About Studying Abroad Is That It’s Not Going To Be As Rosy A Picture As You’ve Painted For Yourself When You Study Abroad You Definitely Get To Visit A Lot Of Places Experience The International Culture And You Have That Freedom And Independence That You Were Always Waiting For But When You Study Abroad You Also Don’t Have The Luxuries Which You Enjoyed Back In India You Have To Do All The Household Work By Yourself

Work By Yourself

There Is No Buy To Clean Your House Even If There Is You Can’t Afford One You Have To Get Your Own Groceries Cook Your Own Meals Wash Your Own Clothes And Do Everything By Yourself And That’s When You Realize How Dependent We Are On Our Mothers And House Help For These Things People Generally Post Pictures Of The Nice Places That They Have Visited When They’re Abroad Nobody Tells You The Amount Of Work That Goes In In Running A Household Before You Can Actually Step Out

Studying abroad is chill

Another Misconception We’ve Been Fed Is That Studying Abroad Is Chill And Once You Get Into A Good University You Can Party And Have Fun It’s Not Like That Studying Abroad If Not Less Is Equally Competitive As Studying In India You Have To Work Towards Building A Strong Profile Get Good Grades Focus On Your Assignments And Research Projects And Make Sure You’re Able To Stand Out From Others With Students Coming In From Recognized Universities All Over The World It’s Important To Put Your Best Foot Forward To Be Able To Get A Good Internship Or Job Opportunity A Lot Of People Regret The Time That They Wasted Earlier On When They’re Not Able To Get A Job So Please Keep This In Mind Working Hard Is The Secret To Success Whether You’re In India Or Abroad

Small Jobs

The Third Thing You Should Know About Studying Abroad Is That You Might Have To Do Small Jobs To Earn Your Living Expenses In India We Lead A Very Comfortable Life Where Parents Hand Out Pocket Money While We Are In College But With Living Expenses So High Abroad You Can’t Afford To Ask Your Parents For That Much Money So In Order To Make Your Living Expenses You Need To Do Small Jobs Like Waitressing At A Restaurant Working In The Parking Lot Or Assisting In The Supermarket In India We Will Shy Away At The Thought Of Doing These Things But When You Are Abroad Even Rich Kids Do These Chores So Might As Well Be Prepared For It No Work Is Small Work And It’s Important To Manage Your Expenses Without Troubling Your Parents

Travelling

Another Harsh Reality You Should Know Is That You Might Not Be Able To Come Home Very Often When You Are Studying Abroad When You’re Studying In A Different City In India All You Need To Do Is Hop On A Train And Come Home Even If You’re Traveling By Flight The Tickets Are Not Very Expensive And You Can Visit Once Every Three Months You Can’t Do That When You’re Studying Abroad Tickets Can Be As Expensive As 50 000 Or One Lakh Rupees One Way And You Might Have To Think Twice Or Thrice Before Travelling The Pandemic Has Also Shown Us That Life From Now Onwards Is Going To Be Very Unpredictable And Different Countries Can Have Their Own Restrictions Which Might Prevent You From Traveling Sometimes Even Up To A Whole Year I Don’t Mean To Dishearten You Just Mentally Prepare Yourself For It That’s All

Friends are family

This Brings Me To My Next Point Which Is Friends Are Like Family So Make Sure You Make Good Ones When You’re Studying Abroad You Spend All Your Time With Your Friends You Cook Together Clean Together Study Together And Even Go Out Together So If You Have A Superficial Relationship With Your Friends Then Very Soon You Will Start Missing Your Family But If You Establish Strong Relationships Where You Genuinely Care About Each Other Then You Won’t Miss Home As Much So From The Very Beginning Look For People With Whom You Can Spend Your Time And Share Your Feelings With Rather Than People With Whom You Can Only Party With

Job hunting

Another Thing You Need To Know About Studying Abroad Is That You Will Have To Look For Jobs Yourself Nobody Is Going To Help You With It In India Colleges Really Spoon Feed Us Where They Bring The Companies To Campus And They Make Sure That We Land Some Or The Other Internship Or Job Placement When You’re Abroad It Doesn’t Work Like That Universities Don’t Care Whether You Get Placed Or Not That Is Your Headache You Need To Attend Career Fairs Send Out Applications Network With Company Employees Talk To Professors And Literally Do Anything And Everything To Land A Job And Finally After A Lot Of Hard Work And Patience You Will Manage To Crack One So It’s Important To Know These Things From Beforehand And Prepare Yourself Accordingly

Soft skills

Another Important Thing Not A Lot Of People Will Tell You Is That Soft Skills Are Important To Succeed In A Foreign Country Whether It’s Public Speaking Writing Or Presentation Skills Having Good Soft Skills Will Make Your Life Easier And Help You Stand Out From Others For Example Having Good Communication Skills Will Help You Build Rapport With People From All Across The Globe Not Only Will It Help You In Making Friends But It Will Help You Connect With Interviewers Professors And Give You An Edge Over Other Students Most Of The Assignments Nowadays Are Presentation Based So If You Have Good Presentation Skills It Will Fetch You Brownie Points And Improve Your Overall Gpa

Good Writing Skills

Another Thing Indian Colleges Don’t Focus On Is Good Writing Skills If You Have The Knowledge Of Academic Writing It Will Enhance The Quality Of Your Assignments And Make It Easier For You To Publish Research Papers So If You’ve Already Gotten An Admit From A University And You Have Two Three Months Left To Join Start Working On Your Soft Skills It Will Really Give A Boost To Your Career Abroad

Food

Now For A Fun Fact When You Study Abroad You’ll Be Exposed To A Lot Of New Food Cuisines Based On The Country Where You’re Studying In I Remember When I Was Studying In Singapore Initially I Was Very Hesitant To Try The Asian Food Also Because I’m A Vegetarian And I Thought All The Dishes Would Have Meat But Later On I Found Some Vegetarian Dishes Which Tasted Amazing And Something I Had Never Tried Before They Actually Became My Go-to Food When I Didn’t Feel Like Cooking So Try And Find Comfort In Local Food It Will Be Cheap Fresh And It Will Also Help You Blend Easily With The Culture Of The Place

Save Money

Another Important Thing Nobody Tells You When You’re Studying Abroad Is To Save Money When You Study Abroad And Start Earning You Immediately Want To Get Your Hands On The Latest Gadgets Branded Clothes And Spend That Money In Establishing A Status For Yourself What We Don’t Realize Is That If We Save Money And Spend It Wisely We Will Have A Lot Of Wealth In Terms Of Inr When We Come Back To India This Realization Comes Only Later On When You Actually Move Back To India And You Realize You Haven’t Saved Much So Go On Trips Travel Explore The Country But Cut Down On Meaningless Expenses

Permanent settlement

Finally The Last Thing I Wanted To Tell You About Studying Abroad Is That Settling Abroad Is Not The Only Option Some Of Us Think That If We Study Abroad We Also Need To Settle There Permanently I Know A Lot Of People Do This By Choice But Some People Also Feel Pressurized In Doing So Even If They Don’t Enjoy Staying There Guys Settling Abroad Is Not The Only Choice You Can Always Work There For A Few Years Recover Your Loan Amount And Then Come Back You Can Get A Nice Job And Stay With Your Family So If You’re Worried That If You Study Abroad That Is It For You And You Will Never Be Able To Come Back Don’t Worry You Can Always Move Back To India And Still Have A Wonderful Life So Guys That’s All I Wanted To Share With You Today These Are Some Of The Things That I’ve Learned From My Personal Experience Of Studying Abroad Hope It Gave You Some Insights Of What Lies Ahead So You Can Prepare Yourself Accordingly Thank You So Much