Sara in Orange (California)

Where did you study?
I studied at Chapman University in Orange, California.

When did you study there?
I studied there during my third year as a bachelor student. I stayed there for four months, during the second semester.

Was the university you studied at your first choice?
Yes, it was my first choice.

Why did you want to go there?
I had wanted to go to America for all my life, so when I found out that I was able to move abroad for half a year, I immediately decided that that was where I wanted to go. It seemed like a unique opportunity, because I probably wouldn’t have taken the step to go there on a holiday that easily. Apart from that, I wanted to develop myself in a broader sense and I found out that I got to take a lot of great courses abroad. A positive detail is that America is an English-speaking country, because I didn’t necessarily feel like learning another language, but boosting my English didn’t seem like a bad idea.

Did you get some sort of grant (Erasmus or Study Abroad Allowance) to finance your time abroad?
Yes, I received the Study Abroad Allowance of €750. I also got €100 each month to replace my free public transportation in The Netherlands and I kept on getting the money I got from studying in The Netherlands (studiefinanciering).

Were you travelling with an organization like Aiesec or ISEP?
Yes, I travelled with ISEP. This was a logical step for me, because ISEP enabled me to choose from a larger number of American Universities. At first, I didn’t even know that it would be relatively cheap and that they would take care of both my housing and daily meal plans. I can advise anyone to travel with an organization like ISEP, because it saved me a lot of money and effort!

When did you start preparing for your trip?
One and a half years before my travel I signed up, just like everyone else. When I heard that the university chose me to travel with ISEP, I started going through their process. Because I was travelling with ISEP, I had to make a list of my top ten American Universities. I had to explain each choice shortly, along with a general motivation letter, letter of recommendation, transcript of records and the score of an English language exam. Eventually, about half a year before my exchange, I heard that I was able to go to California. In that time, I took care of my flight tickets and my visa.

As you can imagine, it cost me quite some time to take care of it all. However, it was totally worth it. Especially because all this made me look forward to my trip and that caused me to have a lot of fun preparing!

How much money did you spend each month abroad? Where there a lot of unexpected costs?
I think that, apart from the one-time amount of money I paid for ISEP and the flight tickets, I spent around €800 each month. The ISEP money included meal plans, which means that I received three meals in the cafeteria every day. However, I lived in the Los Angeles area where everything was crazy expensive. A beer, for example, costs around €8 and going out to dinner (which became very appealing after having cafeteria-food for a while) was also very expensive. But I spent most of the money on weekend trips to San Francisco, San Diego, Las Vegas etcetera. These were obviously not cheap, but I had promised myself to do everything I wanted and I definitely did!

I was a little surprised by some of the unexpected costs though. For example, I had to do a language test, which was pretty expensive. I also had to pay for my visa and health insurance, which I did not expect. However, the prices weren’t that crazy, so it wasn’t that big of a problem.

Did you have a hard time meeting people there? Did you make friends you still talk to?
I did not have a hard time meeting people there at all. I immediately was added to a group chat with exchange students from all over Europe. We all lived in the same building on campus as well. From the first moment on, we became a close group who ate together, worked out together, partied, and hung out all the time. We often talked about how we actually replaced each other’s friends, family and relationships. Because of this, I made friends for life that I don’t only still talk to, but that I also hung out with after the exchange. I had people from Scotland, Sweden, Germany and different places within the Netherlands over, and I also visited Scotland myself to have a nice time with a part of the group.

Apart from the exchange students, I also made close American friends. I had an American roommate, but I also befriended some American classmates. This was mostly because of the fact that American people are very open to foreigners and they all wanted to get to know me. This gave me some great opportunities like staying in someone’s private house in San Francisco. I also was very lucky with my roommate, because she showed me all the hotspots in Southern California. I even had dinner with her parents once! So nice.

How was your housing arranged?
Like I said before, ISEP arranged my room on campus. I shared the room and bathroom with my roommate. It felt a little strange to have a roommate at first, but it forced me to be around people all the time and this added a lot to my experience. Also, it was great that all exchange students lived in one building. We spent almost every night together and that caused me to never feel lonely.

Do you feel like your exchange has added something to your study, finding a job, personal growth etcetera?
This experience has definitely been of added value to my life. I think this already starts from the moment you choose to go on exchange. You step outside your comfort-zone, which is pretty scary. However, soon you’ll find out that you are able to achieve more than you expected. No matter what happens, you will be fine! From a certain point on, things you found scary at first, suddenly seem so easy and simple.

It has also helped me personally with (job) interviews, because people see it as a positive thing that you have experience abroad and that you have taken courses you would not be able to take in The Netherlands. It’s a great added value to your CV or resume!

Would you advise others to study abroad? Do you have any tips for the people who are either still doubting or that are definitely planning on doing it?
I would advise anyone to ask themselves the following questions: “Am I scared? Do I think it might be hard?” And when the answer is “Yes”, to do it anyway! There’s a big chance that it might be hard at times, but these are the valuable life lessons you don’t want to miss out on. My second advice is to prepare your trip well. Save enough money and make sure you are totally ready when you are getting on that plane. Not only do you want to make sure everyone at home can feel comfortable with you going, you also don’t want to feel stressed yourself! Besides, you should be able to do everything you want to do when you’re abroad. It’s a once in a lifetime experience, so you should enjoy every minute and you shouldn’t have to skip trips.

Lastly, my time abroad thought me that it can be hard to leave people at home. I missed my family, friends and my boyfriend in The Netherlands. However, I decided to fully focus on my life abroad. When I found the time, I skyped for a little while, but I didn’t give up a single activity for it. Once again: you are never going to be able to relive those moments, so don’t let the people at home stop you! You will see them again in no time.