Mistakes I made and things I would change about my study abroad experience

View of St. Andrews from the Castle Course

1. I didn’t buy an outlet adapter beforehand

I’ve mentioned this about a million times on the blog, but it’s because I literally can’t emphasize it enough – buy an outlet adapter BEFORE you leave. After I landed in Scotland and finally dropped my bags at St. Andrews, I went to go Skype my Mom, who had probably been glued to her computer for the last 10 hours, to let her know my plane didn’t crash somewhere over the Atlantic. Of course, my laptop battery was dead and, because I hadn’t bought an adapter ahead of time, I had to beg every American student I saw to borrow theirs.

2. I packed too much

I’m sure over-packing is a common regret of most students that study abroad. The only reason your suitcase should be packed to the brink of explosion is that you plan on leaving a lot of things behind when you come home, e.g. towels, blankets, toiletries – basically anything that you’ll be able to replace cheaply when you get back.

As far as clothes go, if you don’t wear it now, you probably won’t wear it abroad either, not to mention you’ll probably be buying some new clothes over the course of the semester or year. Check out these posts on how to pack when you’re going abroad – 2 Suitcases + 1 Year = Study Abroad Packing List and How To Fit Your Life Into Two Suitcases.

3. I booked my flight with the wrong airline

I booked my flight to and from Scotland with Continental Airlines, and honestly there was nothing wrong with the flight itself. However, I brought my golf clubs as a third bag and got charged a pretty hefty fee. Had I flown with British Airways, apparently there’s a possibility I could’ve taken my clubs for free and saved about $300. Really research flights, it will pay off. As always, I recommend going through STA Travel because they specialize in student travel, or there’s the ever trusty Expedia.com.

4. I didn’t put something easy to identify on my luggage

This is a small change that would’ve made a huge difference. Airports are large, crowded, and hectic – you don’t want to have to fight a mob to spot your bag. Put something massive, easily identifiable, and of course legal on it. I’m not talking just a giant pink band, I mean a giant pink band with purple dots and  your name in capital letters written all over it. Don’t worry about looking ridiculous; you’ll never see those people from the airport again.

5. I bought a camera with a low optical zoom and no panoramic setting

For some reason, everyone – myself included – is only worried about megapixels. Unless you’re going to be making massive posters with all of your study abroad pictures, 12 to 14 megapixels – the standard on just about every camera these days – is fine. The most important feature I neglected was the OPTICAL ZOOM, as opposed to the digital zoom. Ideally, the higher the better, but I would definitely shoot for at least 7x.

The panoramic setting is not a necessity, but it will take your pictures to a whole new level. You’re going to be in some of the coolest places in the world, you want your pictures to do your travels justice. Check out this camera that I use and recommend.

6. In the beginning, I only hung around with kids from Holy Cross

I was in a dorm with 4 other people from my school in the U.S., so I made the amateur mistake of waiting about 3 months to go mingle with anyone else. The sad thing is, I was in a freshman dorm so everyone there was new and looking to make new friends, and I could’ve had new friends right off the bat. Don’t be afraid to socialize! Meeting new friends is one of the treasured opportunities of studying abroad.

7. I should’ve done more traveling around Scotland

I did more traveling than I could’ve imagined while I was abroad. And while I did make it to a few different parts of Scotland, I definitely should’ve seen more. The farthest reaches of Scotland were at most only a few hours bus ride away, and if I could do it again I would take a lot more weekend trips to explore places outside of St. Andrews. You chose a particular country for a reason; you should really make an effort to see everything it has to offer.

8. I didn’t follow “local” sports enough

In Scotland, it happened to be soccer and rugby. Sports play just as big of a role in the social life of people from other countries as they do in the U.S., sometimes more. I wish I had taken a few Saturdays and gone to the pub to get in on the action instead of always playing golf.  Grab a beer, meet your friends, pick a team, and have a good time.

9. I didn’t get a part time job

Myself, Stephen and Tris (who was brave enough to take me out on the Old Course)

10. I didn’t do a good job of keeping in touch with the people I met

It’s probably the thing I’m most sad about, but it’s something I’m determined to fix. I wouldn’t have experienced half of what I did without everyone I met at St. Andy’s, most importantly my academic family and my closest friends in the dorm. Looking back, I probably wouldn’t have even made it on to the Old Course as early as I did without my friend Tris taking me with him even though at that point I sucked. There are so many ways to keep in touch with your friends who either go to a different school in the US or who live abroad, don’t let those friendships fade.

I’m lucky because having already made these mistakes, I can avoid them when I study abroad in China.  If you haven’t studied abroad yet, keep my mistakes in mind when you do.

If you have any other questions or comments please feel free to leave them below and I’ll get back to you!

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