If you are reading this blog post because you are about to
leave your home country to do your studies, congratulations! If you are just
here to see what I am about to ramble about, you are welcome, too and I promise
to not ramble….too much.
As you may know from yesterday’s blog post, in October 2017,
I left my home country; Zambia, to study a Masters in Management in the United
Kingdom. Through everything leading up to my departure and my experience upon
arrival, I have some tips that you may find helpful.
PRIOR TO DEPARTURE
Do your research. It is so much helpful to dedicate time to
researching on the country, town, university you are going to. That was really
helpful for me because I was quite emotional about leaving my family behind. Knowing
what was there to look forward to helped me to stay excited about the adventure
ahead. I also found it helpful to
research on societies suitable for International students at your university. There should be a
lot of information on that on the university website or social media accounts. Join your course group or chat on social media, you will get some helpful information from there too, the bonus is you get to interact with them too. YouTube
is also a useful source of information. If you have friends or family in that town/country or
even better, university, do not be afraid to ask questions.
Make sure you plan your time in order to avoid leaving
things to the last minute. Unfortunately, I didn’t do that and my last days
were a hot mess. Given that it was only confirmed that I was leaving two days
before I actually left, it is still no excuse as I should have strategized- uncertainty
is not an excuse! Make a list of everything you need to do and plan it out
making sure you avoid leaving items to the last couple of days, or even hours,
before your departure. Don’t burn
bridges before you leave. Say goodbye to
your family and friends. Sorry to burst your bubble, but there is no new set of
family or bunch of friends waiting for you at the airport in your destination
country.
Do not over pack or under pack. When I was leaving, I think
I had a relapse of judgment. I left most of my clothes as if there were bags of
clothes awaiting me in the arrival lounge. The other extreme is packing more
than you will need. Making a list of everything you plan to pack helps you
avoid that. I made the mistake of assuming that I didn’t need to carry some
Zambian dry foods and cultural items. I am still here regretting that, you will
definitely miss the food from back home and need to show some items that represent
your culture, so don’t forget.
DAY OF DEPARTURE
Try by all means to leave this day pressure free. You don’t want
to spend it running around, trust me. Leave this day for the final, simple to-do
items that you were not able to do before. If all is done, spend your extra
time chilling and ensuring you have not forgotten anything. Make sure you have
cash on you, in a convenient currency as you do not want surprises with bank
card drama. Make sure you have printed all documents you are required to show
at immigration.
I hope this was helpful to you, if you need some advice on anything to do with preparing to go abroad for studies, I am more than glad to help. I am not a guru in this area but after experiencing it, I would consider it a pleasure to help anyone navigate through it.
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