As an INFP, Ravenclaw, and Virgo, you could argue that I was born to plan and organize. Obviously, this means I’ve created a ton of lists, goals, and Dropbox folders (okay, only one) to plan ahead for my Scotland First Year Study Abroad Experience (FYSAE) journey.
One of the most important parts of that is my personal goals for study abroad. That sounds really boring written out, but hear me out for a second. You’re studying abroad not just to experience a new school system or country...you’re also studying abroad to explore your personal limits and have life-changing experiences. So below, I’m discussing some of my plans for next semester as well as how you can come up with goals of your own.
Thanks to an idea from my FYSAE mentor, I created a travel journal that’ll be my companion as I go through Europe. I want to document as many experiences as I can, even my first walk around the University of Stirling campus. So far, I have a travel bucket list in there, but other pages I hope to add include: maps of places I visit, advice/nice things written by the people I meet, and reflections on my journeys.
Since Scotland has less weekly lecture/seminar time and assignments than Arcadia, and I won’t be working, I’ll likely have more time to devote to my personal interests. One of my favorite hobbies is creative writing, but I haven’t spent as much time on this lately as I would like. I want to get back into the swing of things again by writing a good chunk of my third book. The basic plot is about a girl who recently graduated college and is figuring her life out; I may have to add some Scottish adventures to the plot as well!
This summer, I’m hoping to score a behavioral research internship. To get a head start, I want to research either poverty in Scotland or a feminist perspective of Henry VIII and his six wives to learn proper research methodology (okay, and because research is my idea of fun). These UK-centric topics will help me learn more about my interests as well as the area I’m studying, so it’s definitely a win-win situation!