Hi everyone!
Welcome to my first blog post of 2025 and this study abroad experience! Today is January 3rd, 2025 and I am exactly one week away from my flight to Germany! SO INSANE. I have been looking forward to this experience since the 22-23 school year, my senior year of high school, when I applied and got accepted to be in the International Business Education Allicance (IBEA) cohort program. Cannot believe I am so close to being back in the country I love and miss. A little about me: I had the cool opportunity to live in Germany as a 10 to 15 year old in the years 2015-2020. My parents are civilians who work for the military as a teacher and a school nurse. After living and experiencing Germany for those five years, living off base in a German village and traveling to over 15 European countries, I fell in love with travel, learning languages, and embracing change. From 2020-2025, I worked hard in high school, trying to navigate how I could possibly either travel or live abroad as an adult. Moving to Germany from Montgomery, AL as a fifth grader was the most life-changing experience and I didn’t want my international travel or passions for other cultures to end just because I moved back to the states for high school. This path at first seemed like joining the Air Force, as it was familiar and forced change because you would be moving all over the world every few years and being in the military sounded like a fun challenge. Unfortunately and after a very long process of waivers and false hope, I got disqualified, even with a full-ride Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) scholarship, because of my severe peanut allergy. During my senior year of high school, I juggled the thought of the AF possibly working out, while also having a backup plan: going to USC to major in International Business. Funny story: When I was applying to USC, I had no idea what major I wanted to do and so my mom decided to read me the list of every single major that USC offered. She went down the list and I said yes or no to each one. The only one that sounded remotely interesting was International Business (IB). I applied under that major having no clue that USC was the top IB school in the country for the past 25 years and with no knowledge of the cohort programs. Let’s just say my jaw dropped when I found this information out, after I decided to attend, when the military plan fell through. Wow, am I lucky to have such an awesome program to be a part of and I am WAY MORE EXCITED for IBEA, than I ever was about the military. Feeling very grateful for God’s timing and trusting in his plan for my life. It was definitely hard to let go of the military dream and the full-ride scholarship, but I know there is so much more in store for my life, now that that door has closed, and the IBEA door opened. Excited is an understatement. I am absolutely pumped and ready to take on the first semester abroad; Mannheim, Germany!
Throughout my first year and a half at USC, I have been in the process of preparing for this experience! Here are some things I did and would suggest doing: 1. Really put your all into language learning. Turn your phone into the language, listen to music, and try speaking as much as possible. 2. Reach out to IBEA generations older than you and hear their experiences. This helps you mentally prepare for challenges and also gets you excited! 3. Talk to internationals at USC, specifically the ones who speak your language you are minoring in. I loved starting convos with internationals that I heard speaking German. The Carolina BCM has international lunches every Thursday at 12pm and so I went as a volunteer with my church to be able to talk with students from all over the world. 4. Get a job to save money to prepare for the experience because it is expensive. I kept my hometown job for breaks and then also got an on campus job at the Darla Moore School of Business Undergraduate Advising Office. Make sure you are intentional about saving your money. 5. Live at home if you are close to campus to save money. I lived at home the first semester of sophomore year and did not regret it. Finding six-month leases can sometimes be a hassle, so if you can live at home, I would advise you to do so. 6. Establish deep friendships/a community at USC who you can stay in contact with and be excited to return to the U.S. to see! Seems straight forward but it is important to get involved in something, a club, sport, ministry, fraternity or sorority, and/or more. I got connected to a college ministry where I feel welcomed back each time I come home from study abroad. 7. Stay on top of emails and read very carefully! The process of studying abroad in Germany is long and tedious. I had to allow plenty of time for everything so I did not get overwhelmed and miss something. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to your advisor or ask for help, but also a lot of the steps in the process are clear if you read directions and take it slow. Put all of the checklist items on your to-do list way before they are due. Time zone differences, holidays, weekends, bank transfer delays and more can make deadlines trickier. Stay on top of it!
To be honest, I am not too worried about anything going into study abroad, mostly excited!! I think it might be because I have already lived in Germany before or that I am an adventurous person! I don’t consider myself a worrier, so here’s what I am excited about: 1. Speaking more German. 2. Exploring new cities. 3. Trying out churches and connecting with other believers. 4. Living in an apartment for the first time. 5. Trying out new recipes and eating healthier. 6. Starting IBEA and learning about consulting. 7. Meeting and getting to know the other international students in my cohort. 8. Learning how to adapt to change and live in a new place on my own. 9. Documenting my experience through this blog, photos/videos, personal journals, and my podcast.
Let’s fly to Germany!
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