For many students, break is the perfect time to enjoy a week full of fun activities. As time quickly flies by and your semester is already half-way over, it’s advisable for students to look at what they’ve accomplished so far in the year and consider future possibilities that they might embark on. 

In this blog, we’re going to examine how students can plan ahead during breaks to study abroad and consider participating in immersive experiences! 

Create Immersive Experiences 

Planning on heading anywhere during break? Be flexible and have fun! If you’re thinking of staying local, there are always plenty of volunteer opportunities that you might be interested in getting involved with over the holiday. Maybe you’re planning on a staycation to enjoy some chill time! Whatever your plans may be, this is a convenient time to reset, recharge, and refocus. 

Participating in an immersive experience, is particularly useful for students who are interested in future travel, such as studying abroad. Dipping your toes in days of service, local excursions, or weekend getaways at home, can benefit future itineraries because you’ll be confident in your abilities to go abroad, study and volunteer.  

Spend Time to Plan Ahead

Maybe you have some free time over break? Why not plan ahead to study abroad!

While others are going on their own travels, understand that it's because of their prior planning. There’s still time to look ahead and we encourage you to take this free time to see what you’d like to do in the future pertaining to an overseas education!

Break creates a great opportunity to plan ahead. Discovering where you want to go and what you’d like to do are two of the most interesting aspects of moving abroad. Gaining these overviews ahead of time can help you maximize your time abroad. When you research customs, habits, traditions, history, and way of life, you will feel immersed in the experience before you even get there! 

For peers who have enjoyed their own academic experiences abroad, keep in mind that they were able to do this by careful planning. Scheduling conversations with advisors and researching will help you lay the proper groundwork to go abroad. 

Living abroad can be an amazing experience, both personally and academically, and when students plan diligently, they become in charge of making their study abroad experience work for them. Contemplate your goals for school and an international education, without letting worry get in the way of planning for an amazing semester overseas.  

How Study Abroad Can Fit Into Your Agenda 

Studying abroad offers life-changing moments and this is the perfect advantage as a college student during break to determine if this international journey is right for you. As you decide on a program of choice, consider your priorities and decide what you might be willing to invest. If you haven’t approached your advisor, consider the following factors and questions before jumping into your initial or on-going conversation:

Time: How long do you want your program to be - a short term program or a semester? A semester or two? 

Destination: Are you set on a destination or are you fairly flexible?

Courses: Does the host university offer classes that pertain to your major? What flexibility do you have with electives and required courses (100-200 lower level courses & 300-400 upper level courses)? 

Language: Do you want to study a second language? 

Determining these factors will help you best prepare for future conversations with your advisors, study abroad office, and EdOdyssey staff as well. Here at EdOdyssey, we want to be of assistance as much as we can for students, so feel free to ask any questions you may have pertaining to our Peru program! 

Immersing yourself in a different culture and traveling is never a waste of time, and neither is a bit of planning! When students give themselves more time to concentrate on specifics, they can really make the most of their pre-departure experience without as many stressors! 

Now that you’ve become inspired by some planning during break, this is our last call for Fall 2020 study abroad programs in Lima, Peru! Our fall semester starts this July! For more information, please fill out our contact form and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible regarding this epic opportunity!