When I came to University I knew I was setting out on a new stage in my life, it felt like an adventure even moving 200 miles away from home, going "up north" and now here I am going several thousand miles away from home to attend University. I wasn't even aware that we could study abroad when I first arrived at University, I was sitting in a lecture a few weeks into the year when the lecturer announced that we have the option to study abroad and told us about a meeting to discuss it, I dutifully wrote down the time and date and almost forgot about it. I somehow remembered about the meeting and turned up, not believing that I would really do anything about it. The meeting made it sound like a big adventure, and I knew I had to apply. I was slightly disappointed to discover that my department only did exchanges in America, somewhere that I had never had the slightest inclination to go to, but I thought I'd try for it anyway. I went home and looked online at the two Universities I could go to, Colorado and Santa Barbara. Colorado was my first choice, something told me that I didn't want to go to Santa Barbara, the girls were just too gorgeous and their teeth would be too white. So I went to see my department and discovered that unless I changed my major I could only go to Santa Barbara, so I applied to go to UCSB. My application was very last minute, I literally handed it in on the last day and never thought I'd get in, I forgot all about it till I received an email from the Study Abroad Advisor at my University.
When I got told I had got a place, I was astounded and really very scared because I knew that it was for real, there was no way I'd let myself get out of it now, to miss this opportunity would be stupid. I went along to a meeting with the Study Abroad Advisor and the others who had got in, there were 6 of us, out of the 120 who had applied! Goodness knows how I got in, some of them chose this University just so they could go abroad and had had their hearts set on California. I felt like a fraud, but the more I thought about it the more excited I became and the more I actually wanted to go.
The application process for the University of California is strange to say the least. You first apply to your University and once accepted by them you apply to California. There are 9 campuses in California and you have to choose 3 of them to apply to and hope you end up where you want to. At first I wanted to apply to Berkeley due to the prestige, but then I realised it would probably be as hideously competitive and arrogant as Oxbridge, also the course was rubbish. Santa Barbara is amazing, the course choice is just fantastic and it has a great link with my home department, it also a world class department. So Santa Barbara was my first choice, Davis became my second and Berkley my third. If I hadn't have got into Santa Barbara I would probably have cried, the more I found out about it the more I really wanted to go. It took months to find out where I was going (about 2 weeks ago) and when I finally found out I had got into Santa Barbara I was dancing around my room, I was just so pleased.
Since then I have been trying to get myself prepared, I've found myself a roommate (I have to have a roommate! I haven't shared a room since I was 7!) for the first semester and booked myself plane tickets. Its finally becoming real, people keep asking me if I'm scared yet, but it doesn't seem quite close enough yet. But I sure will be scared just before I leave.
When I got told I had got a place, I was astounded and really very scared because I knew that it was for real, there was no way I'd let myself get out of it now, to miss this opportunity would be stupid. I went along to a meeting with the Study Abroad Advisor and the others who had got in, there were 6 of us, out of the 120 who had applied! Goodness knows how I got in, some of them chose this University just so they could go abroad and had had their hearts set on California. I felt like a fraud, but the more I thought about it the more excited I became and the more I actually wanted to go.
The application process for the University of California is strange to say the least. You first apply to your University and once accepted by them you apply to California. There are 9 campuses in California and you have to choose 3 of them to apply to and hope you end up where you want to. At first I wanted to apply to Berkeley due to the prestige, but then I realised it would probably be as hideously competitive and arrogant as Oxbridge, also the course was rubbish. Santa Barbara is amazing, the course choice is just fantastic and it has a great link with my home department, it also a world class department. So Santa Barbara was my first choice, Davis became my second and Berkley my third. If I hadn't have got into Santa Barbara I would probably have cried, the more I found out about it the more I really wanted to go. It took months to find out where I was going (about 2 weeks ago) and when I finally found out I had got into Santa Barbara I was dancing around my room, I was just so pleased.
Since then I have been trying to get myself prepared, I've found myself a roommate (I have to have a roommate! I haven't shared a room since I was 7!) for the first semester and booked myself plane tickets. Its finally becoming real, people keep asking me if I'm scared yet, but it doesn't seem quite close enough yet. But I sure will be scared just before I leave.
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