April 2014: And the (pre-departure) journey continues...

Five months, one acceptance letter, and a pre-departure orientation later, I’m even more excited and further along in the process of getting to France (and Spain)! A lot has happened in such a short amount of time. Okay, so I guess it has been a pretty long time since I last posted (four months or so), but a lot of things have definitely been flying by in almost three whole months.

In December, I met with the Study Abroad Director at SNC once before winter break. We went over what I’d all need to collect for my application to study at the Catholic University of Lille (l’Université Catholique de Lille) in the fall. It was great to have a defined list, and it didn't seem like too much trouble, so I started on collecting my application materials (in between holiday festivities with my family).

Fast-forward to the end of January, starting the spring semester at SNC, and I didn't really have too much done for my application. I wanted to start on my essay over break, but that didn't end up happening. However, I did get a few things, like an official copy of my birth certificate, ready to submit to the Study Abroad office. So, the semester started on an okay note in the area of study abroad.

Finally, at the beginning of February, I really started to get everything together. Each document I gathered, each task I completed, earned me a checked box on my list of accomplishments. Being a big procrastinator normally, I was really proud of how fast I was getting things together. Before long, I had my essay written, and all the boxes checked on my application. Time was flying by!

March 3 was the deadline for the application, and I got everything together well ahead of time. Finally, I was getting somewhere! The only thing I had left to do at that point was to wait to hear back from the university in France (after the lovely Dr. Rosemary Sands, Director of Study Abroad, sent everything out – I owe many thanks to her already!). Then, on March 26, I got an email from Rosemary with a scan of my acceptance letter attached, and it was finally official!

From here on out, my biggest priorities are budgeting, figuring out what and how to pack, and getting everything together to go get my French long-stay visa down at the French Consulate in Chicago. (For studying abroad, since it’s longer than 3 months, I need a long-stay student visa – and LOTS of documentation – so that the French authorities know my purpose there). Once I send in my materials to Campus France, an organization that facilitates and promotes higher education in France, I will be able to set up an appointment and go down to Chicago, so I can get my official visa to study in France. That will just be one more official step in this process, but it will make it all the more real to me. I can’t wait for what lies ahead!

While we wait for more news, here are a few cool links for videos that I will be watching about studying abroad!

http://www.youtube.com/user/SNCstudyabroad - SNC Study Abroad YouTube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20BGpWxugmI - “Study Abroad: 5 Things You Will Love & Hate”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzZb3XAafk - “Study Abroad France: Before You Leave”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5n1Xk1uDPI - “My Year in Spain: Packing Do’s and Don’ts”

November 2013: Welcome to my blog!

Hello everyone! My name is Alesia, and I am studying Spanish, French, and Secondary Education at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin (USA). On this blog, I will post my adventures in preparation for and during the experience of studying abroad. At this point in time, I plan on posting on this blog around once a month, and I'll detail my plans and thoughts about the whole experience.

My current situation: I am majoring in Spanish and French, and St. Norbert College (SNC) has a requirement of at least one semester of study abroad in a country where the language is spoken for students who choose to major in modern languages. Since I am choosing to major in both Spanish and French, I plan to be studying abroad for both semesters in the coming academic year (Fall 2014 and Spring 2015).

Since there is a lot of work involved in preparing for this experience, I already met with the SNC Study Abroad Director, Rosemary Sands, DML, to start planning.

• We talked about a few logistics with each location, since at that point I was unsure of which locations I wanted to study abroad.
• I was considering two locations in France and two locations in Spain: Lille and Montpellier in France, and Madrid and Toledo in Spain.
• Lille and Madrid are exchange programs (when SNC sends students there, they send students to SNC), and I need to participate in at least one exchange program so that my financial aid still applies to both my semesters abroad.
• There are three things about Toledo that make me 90% sure that I want to go there.
• There's a lot of interesting history in and around the city.
• There is a unique opportunity to fulfill a General Studies (GS) requirement (and double dip as a requirement for my major)
• An internship opportunity is offered that could possibly benefit me very much in the way of education, because it would involve teaching English to Spanish high school students.
• Since it seems extremely likely that I'll be going to Toledo, that leaves Lille for me in France, because of the financial aid requirement and the exchange program being there.
• I originally had some reservations about going to Lille because the housing situation is not a home stay (staying with a host family), but I did learn that I should be staying with other French students in a residence hall, which is not what I previously thought (I thought I would be staying with other international/American students).
• In regards to which country to go to for which semester: the opportunity to cover the GS requirement and the internship opportunity only happen in the spring in Toledo. For Lille, signing up for housing is better in the fall, and there's also a better pre-semester French intensive (covered by SNC) before the fall semester.

That's where I'm at right now with studying abroad. I plan to meet with Dr. Sands again before this Winter break to discuss what I've found out with my own research. In the meantime, I'll be looking up classes at each location and seeing how I can get them to fit my GS requirements and requirements for my major.


You can follow my adventures in planning for and going to study abroad on this blog.

Here are some pretty cool links to videos that I found on YouTube:

• http://www.youtube.com/user/SNCstudyabroad - St. Norbert College Study Abroad YouTube Channel
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20BGpWxugmI - "Study Abroad: 5 Things You Will Love & Hate"
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvzZb3XAafk - "Study Abroad France: Before You Leave"
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5n1Xk1uDPI- "My Year in Spain: Packing Do’s and Don’ts"