Picture this. A majestic building, with the subtlest touch of elegance. Beautiful skies and green pastures. A lake on your right is merely the cherry on top of the cake. Just then, you hear babbling in a foreign language. You don't understand what your new peers are saying, but you feel the welcoming, bubbly tone of their voices, and the exhilaration of a new beginning in your heart. You make a mental note to learn their language as quickly as you can. Ah, it's time to get to class, to your favourite lecture of the day!
Isn't this the life we all plan in our heads? Isn't this the threshold we want to conquer before we step into the real world? If you're a student, I'm sure this resonates with you. Studying abroad is a dream we harbour, or take up, when we see just how many avenues the world has, to offer for us.
But alas! Studying abroad isn't all fun and a cakewalk. The challenges begin with battling to read and understand – a plethora of information about academic world and course options. And that quest for knowledge is like the unquenchable thirst one feels on a hot summer afternoon. While every gulp of the chilled water quenches your thirst – but you still seem to want more of it. Beginning with knowing what course to study, you get to what university, which country – the need for knowledge and information is virtually endless. And that is what makes study abroad preparation – truly baffling and somewhat agonizing.
Hence everything needs to begin with finding the right consultant, your guardian angel – who will chaperon you through this challenging journey – from creating resume, acing your test, to choosing your university and the list is almost endless.
Now, going back to my anecdote about this person who has now been bitten by this foreign bug (pun intended)!
It was just another day for the person in question. Normal, but special. Tomorrow was the first day of her final year at college. Also the time to finally start thinking of her future in ways she'd never thought of before.
That's when she was reminded of a dream that had stayed with her for the past five years. To study abroad. It was high time she let it translate to the real world.
At the dinner table, on the mention of future plans, she was advised to seek a consultant, to help steer her way through this long, strenuous process. So did the journey began.
She was inquisitive, as all of us would be. A hundred questions ran through her mind before each session, complemented by doubts. "Am I doing the right thing?" "Will I be able to carve a niche for myself?" "Will settling there be too hard?"
But the consultant's wealth of knowledge and experience on the subject always managed to put her mind at ease. Slowly, her applications were sent out, tests were aced, and the correspondence kept rolling in.
On the other hand, her friends who also wanted to study abroad, but decided to do so without professional help, struggled with haywire thoughts, sporadic organization, and basically, a lot of stress.
Her research showed her the myriad benefits of going abroad. Learning new languages, expanding her network, having a bounty of job opportunities lined up with a prestigious education on her CV!
An experience like this can change you, change you for good, and in ways that you'll forever be grateful for. Studying abroad exposes you to ideas you would never have come across without leaving your home, your comfort zone. It gives you an insight into the real world, and gives you a taste of independence early on. This is what one can truly call; comprehensive education!
The right way to go abroad requires professional help. This one good move will save you from a zillion troubles and heartache – and provide a safe and secure takeoff toward a lifetime of success. What's stopping you?
