Thursday, July 13, 2023

Do you remember that I got up early the first weekend of May to watch the coronation?

Do you remember that I bought some British foods at World Market and Trader Joe’s?

Our favorite were the crumpets!

Well, my family wasn’t just celebrating the coronation, but the news that Mason would be studying abroad in England in the fall!

I have his permission to share this with you all. Fall of senior year is not the norm, but for some reason he and his advisor worked out that this would work the best for him.

He will be in the north of England about 5 hours away from London. I am nervous and excited! We knew that this would most likely happen, because Mason did a scholarship competition as a senior in high school (at his current college) and didn’t win the big prize but did win a scholarship toward study abroad.

He will be living in a dorm and have a single room but share a bathroom with 5 other students. They have a communal kitchen with a table with 6 chairs, which I think is nice and I pray he meets some friends in them. He will also have a meal plan but it won’t cover all of his meals.

So, I also had this experience during the spring semester of my junior year in Valencia, Spain. Spain, Germany, and Austria were other contenders for Mason, but he chose England and England chose him – the semester calendar had to match up with his current college and you had to be accepted.

I was the only one from my college who did my program, and I met my 29 other Americans upon arriving in Spain. I had a roommate from California, and we lived together with a 50-something lady and her 70-something mother. They tried to pair students together to live with different host families. This experience was nothing short of life changing and I still remember everything so vividly. My sister Molly also did this in The Netherlands. My photos are in my classroom, but I will try to remember to post some of them!

So, thank you for listening to my news! Tanya, do you have any recommendations? Anyone else? He will be very close to Wales and pretty close to Ireland and Scotland so I know he hopes to do some traveling.

Did you study abroad? Have your kids or do you want them to do this?

Amy

35 thoughts on “Semester Abroad”

  1. I was much too chicken to study abroad– heck, I didn’t even live in a dorm period!– but Alec has big plans to do this and has already looked into it at his #1 choice school (to the point where he knows what town in France he’d be going to!). I hope Mason has a wonderful time!!

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  3. This is really awesome!!! It will be a forever-experience and it sounds like he needed to be very pro-active to make it happen 🙂 I’m sure this will be quite the experience for his brother, too, as it seems they don’t spend much time apart, much less in different countries!
    I wish some of my children would have considered it but the interest wasn’t there. My niece went to Germany but it was winter/spring ‘21 when everything in Germany was still shut down so it really wasn’t the experience she was hoping for…basically she only met and hung with other Americans and couldn’t even travel! We got very close to anHS exchange student several years ago and that was a neat experience for us.
    Best of luck to you all!! I hope he lets you post about some of his experiences.

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    1. Thank you! Yes, it’s not easy to arrange your classes so that you can do it sometimes. Oh, yes, that is not the same – darn Covid!
      Thank you and I hope to post about it!

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    1. This is really the only time in life you can do this! Once you start adulting, it becomes much harder. I recommend that all my students do it. Thank you!

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  5. That’s incredible! I think it’s great to do it while you’re young, otherwise the opportunity may never come around again. Is he excited or nervous? I’m sure you are a little nervous, I probably would be too, but the memories and prospective opportunities and fun will far outweigh it. I am sure he will meet some friends once he arrives- I would think this is an experience that makes you bond with people quickly! Too bad you can’t go for a visit while he’s there!

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  6. I wish I had studied abroad but never did. What a wonderful opportunity! Congratulations! He will have a great experience.

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    1. I wish this experience for all of my students. I wish that their college had a winter term of a month because I think Jack would do that, but a whole semester no.

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  7. How exciting! He will be able to see so much of the entire UK from that location! The trains can take him everywhere. I’m so excited to hear about his experience throughout the fall! I’m sure he will be based in a city, but my main advice is to get out into the countryside to enjoy some walks and pubs! Another piece of advice…be sure to get over to Wales and Scotland. Even though they are part of the UK, the culture and vibe is very different! 🙂

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    1. Thank you! I love trains so much! I really want to do it, too! Is that wrong? Ha! He is going to be in a small town. Can I DM you? I hope he gets to see at the very least most of England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland. This will be his third time in Europe and I am so proud of him for doing this.

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  8. Wow, what a wonderful opportunity for him! I studied abroad with Nacel in France in the summer between 10th and 11th grade, for a summer session and then a spring session in Quebec City during undergraduate college, and I worked for my university’s study abroad program as assistant director for junior year abroad in Rouen, France (north of Paris) when I was a graduate student studying for my MA in French lit. I highly recommend study abroad and am so excited for your son! It really is a life-changing experience! I traveled so much during my time in France and then for years after. Since we had a full year in France, we did a big trip and took the students to Senegal for 2 weeks. It was an incredible adventure since the director had friends there, and we traveled all over the country from Dakar to the Casamance, which sadly is no longer considered safe. I hope he’ll have time for weekend trips to Scotland and Wales, as well as London. I follow belindamfrost on IG and used to read her blog; she is an American living in N Wales, very close to England, and her photos of N Wales are gorgeous. I hope Mason has a great time!

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    1. I did Nacel, too! I lived with a family between sophomore and junior year in Tarragona, Spain. You really did a lot! I started following her so I hope to see some of Wales!

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      1. So funny we both did Nacel! I come from a small town in CT, so that trip really opened my eyes to travel and other cultures/countries. I was in the south of France, near Lyon. I was reflecting a lot yesterday after your post, and I was thinking about how I carried the travel guides around, a phone card, and a small book of the Paris metro with street maps! Times have changed with iPhones! Belinda doesn’t post as much as she used to on IG, but she has a lot of older posts. Such a gorgeous place!

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      2. Yes! So funny! I didn’t even think many had heard of it. It was life changing for me. I didn’t think I wanted to be a Spanish teacher until about 3 years later.

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  9. Wow Amy (and shout out to Mason!), that’s fantastic! I love the UK! The people are friendly and the vibe is really nice. Mason will have a fantastic experience! I have a couple of old students going to the UK and they have all loved it! My daughter’s best friend did all of high school in a boarding school in Scotland.
    Will you go visit him!?
    Oldest daughter will apply for a year abroad (she’s at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm – fancy!) and her biggest dream is actually Texas! Yee Haw!

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  11. Both of our girls did study abroad. Kelsey went to an immersion program in Spain for a summer and loved it! They stayed with a family and it’s how she met one of her best friends at college !! Taylor did a 2 week study in Chile for dept of Agriculture thru Fresno state and loved it. It was over winter break and she said she’d never do one and then she did and still talks about what a great experience it was. Both of them had great experiences and I’m so happy we could provide them the opportunity to go. I didn’t go to college so I’m happy they got all the experiences i never did. Sorry to use the word “ experience “ repeatedly 😂😂

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  12. I wish I could’ve afforded to study abroad or even go to college. I worked hard on my studies but just wasn’t an A student. Best wishes to your son.

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    1. This is the same price as the college but of course we have to pay airfare and spending money. He is working hard this summer to save up. I am sorry you could not afford it – it is hard to do.

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  13. This is exciting news! What a great experience and something to remember for a lifetime. I have been to London a few times, but have always wanted to explore the countryside.

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  14. That’s so exciting! We are Liverpool fans and sounds like he will be close – my boy would LOVE to be in that area. It’s great they found a way to make it happen, even if it is his senior year.

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    1. I know so little and will have to look that up! I am hoping to be able to share his experience with his permission and maybe that will influence yours!

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  16. None of my kids did a semester abroad though I encouraged all of them. My oldest would have had to add a semester to his program at his college due to his degree. My daughter went to Provence for J-Term. My youngest wasn’t interested while he was in college, but he ended up going to Europe when a friend of a friend invited both of them to break in his new car. He had a blast! It sounds like your son will have a wonderful time!

    https://marshainthemiddle.com/

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