Goals for Study Abroad

This is the first of what is going to be many blogs about me and my adventures while study abroad! I am so excited to study in Morocco. It is crazy to think that I will be so far away for so long.I can only imagine what it is going to be like. I’ve asked some of the international students here if living in the US was what they expected and imagined it to be like. They’ve all said that it was just like they imagined, but they also said that the US was ‘put on display’ a lot in their countries through television and advertisements, so they know what to expect. For me, I don’t see a lot of Moroccan culture or lifestyles other than what I’ve researched or what Ali has told me, so this has made me very curious about what to expect for my upcoming journeys.

I am very nervous about traveling so far for so long without an easy way of getting home in case something bad were to happen. I have two younger brothers, Dylan and Rookie. Rookie is actually in South Korea right now serving in the US Air Force. When he was in boot camp last fall, our youngest brother, Harry, drowned. Rookie was very far away when this happened and having him come home was a very big deal that was hard to figure out. I am so afraid that something like this will happen to another one of my family members while I am in Morocco. I have always been very attached to my family. I love them so much. It’ll be hard to adjust to a world where i don’t see my parents at least once a week. When I moved to college, the transition from not getting to hug them goodnight every night was hard, so i can only imagine how hard being on the other side of the world for a year will be. Even though it is scary and tough, I know that it’ll make me a better and stronger and more independent person. This experience will help me grow up in my own way.

While I am in Morocco, I don't have any personal goals set for me yet other than to enjoy myself and to do well in my classes. I’m excited to visit all of the cities Ali has told me about. I would love to visit Rabat, Chefchaouen, and Marrakech during my stay at AUI. I’m particularly excited about visiting Chefchaouen because I’ve been obsessed with the blue city ever since I was told about its existence. While I am at AUI, I hope to do some traveling in Europe. I can visit mostly any country in Europe without a visa with my American passport, and air fare in Europe is very inexpensive, so I am optimistic that I will be able to visit some of Europe during my stay at AUI.

           Of course when i think of study abroad in Morocco, everything that comes to mind first is tourist-attraction-like things. On the academic part of things, I am very excited to see how classes differ at AUI when compared to MC. I have always heard that the classes abroad will be harder, but after hanging out with the international students here at MC, I don't think that they will be that bad. I am very excited to have to adapt to a new learning environment and see how I perform. I will be taking four to five classes each semester, so I hope that I will have a good balance of school work and free time. 

In all, i am very excited to study abroad at Morocco. I am not as worried as I was towards the beginning of the semester and am rather just very excited to have a semester abroad at AUI.