Senior year of college brings with it anxiety and so many decisions regarding your future. Until about a month ago, I was in the same situation as most of my classmates. What will I do when I graduate? Where am I going to go? What job should I pursue? Is it worth it to go to graduate school? Travelling is what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn’t want to be the typical “I traveled around Europe for a summer” college student. I wanted to set roots and I wanted to make that place my second home. What’s the best way to do that while also advancing my academic career?
The answer is graduate school abroad.
London has always been my dream. Maybe it had to do with Big Ben, the history, the accents. . .the list could continue. Once I decided that London was where I wanted to go to get my Master’s, I needed to narrow down the schools and apply to them.
Was central London the place to be or further away? Did I want to get my Master’s in my current degree—Business Marketing—or should I try something new? So many decisions were ahead of me, and being an avid planner, I made my list right away.
During the process, I didn’t narrow my list down based off of location; I went by program. I had made a list of schools in London and Ireland: how much they cost, what program(s) they offer, when the start date is, and what makes up the application process. Throughout this time, I had worked hard on my personal statement (a daunting process), and I had touched up my resume and my CV.
There were about nine schools in total that I planned on applying to from my list. I still remember the day that I submitted all of them. A sense of relief overwhelmed me, but then an immediate sense of anxiety sank in because now the waiting began. Four months I had spent editing my personal statement and making sure everything was perfect just to hit send and put my fate in someone else’s hands. It was scary, but it was also exciting. The thought of spending a year in a whole new country was enough to ease any fear I had.
It had been about a month since I submitted my applications, and I woke up one morning to an email from the top university on my list. The email was an acceptance letter, and they gave me thirty days to accept or deny my position at the school. Over the course of the next month, I got into four more schools, but I ended up accepting the place at Kingston University on the Thames near London, England. I will get my Master’s in Marketing Communications & Advertising.
It’s surreal. A year ago I wouldn’t have thought that in six months I would travel to a different country by myself for an entire year, but here we are. My final decision is based on location, price, accreditation, and earlier students’ testimony.
There is a lot to do before my departure date arrives. I am eagerly counting down the days until I begin life in a new country.
