The Struggle with Time Management and Modern-Day Coping Mechanisms

A classic question that I've experienced over my college experience is whether or not I should study abroad. As my junior year is starting, the options to study abroad are becoming more limited because the courses I am taking are more and more specific to my degree. To help make my decision on whether or not I should try to study abroad, I've asked several people who have gone abroad and people who made the choice not to. And, as expected, I got a range of reactions and experiences. 

One of my friends recently did a semester in London at our school's global campus there. While she said it was incredible to experience a different city and culture from the one we are used to on campus, she felt overwhelmed by her major's course load abroad. Some of the courses in science concentrations such as organic chemistry can be very intense, requiring long hours of study time. However, when your studying abroad, that time can be precious to you because you would rather spend it trying new experiences and absorbing a new culture, which is equally as time intensive as studying. 

I have another friend who had a completely different experience studying abroad in Shanghai. He took a lighter course load, so that he only had classes three days a week. Because of the four day weekends he had, he could travel to nearby places as well as Shanghai and explore as much as he wanted. It was cheaper than he expected because he was able to stay at student hostels, where boarding can be as little as three dollars! He met different people and made friends all over from his travels. Our school's study abroad experience also encourages to take language courses to supplement our experience in a new place by being able to communicate with the locals. 

While I personally would like to study abroad, I don't think I will have the opportunity to because of my heavy course load. But, my university gives me several opportunities to go abroad. One such opportunity that I took advantage of was from my scholars group that took us to Paris for one week. It was truly an amazing experience that I do not regret at all. My favorite thing about the experience is that it was organized to be all encompassing of Paris. Not only did we become super tourists, we learned about the different groups of people that make up Paris, the problems the face and what daily life looks like for them. While we had to only attend one lecture in Paris about le banlieu, I got to learn so much experientially through museums, walking tours and dinners.