APPLYING:
I had always dreamt of attending a summer program abroad since I was in first year, so I began doing my research way ahead of time to make sure I would meet the criteria of a potential candidate. When the applications opened, it was important for me to go through each of the programs and see what was available. I eventually selected a business course in economics; I am an aspiring global entrepreneur so I thought this course would help me further this aspiration.
Pre-Departure:
Before my departure to the east, I was very much entangled in a thick web of deadlines and administration. Having found out that I was accepted into the summer school program, I was of course overwhelmed with excitement. Following that initial excitement, I realised that we were already half way through April, and that the summer school would take place in June/July, thus putting significant pressure on me to prepare and organize everything. Although being excited once I was accepted, I was somewhat harrowed by the feeling of anxiety knowing that I still had to prepare and sort out my travel plans, visa documents, flight tickets, insurance and all the other necessary formalities. Not until these things were finalised did the feeling of excitement and anticipation really set in. So to help overcome the stress and anxiety that I experienced right up until just a few days before I left, I would recommend:
Pre-departure:
I am currently a second year student studying BA Human Resources Management. I love to travel and I really wanted to do an exchange. I began searching through the summer exchanges but the biggest problem for me was that there were so many places to go to and so many options to choose from! So before I began finding a place I made a list of the four countries I really wanted to go to and I chose to look for a course in economics as I was still unsure as to whether I should be studying economics or not. I found an economics course that covered the social inequalities of economics at the University of Bayreuth which also provided accommodation, food and a weekend field trip to Berlin. This made my pre-departure planning a lot simpler because I did not have to stress about accommodation or where to find shops for food, etc.