Seniors!! You’re graduating, oh my! Sorry you lost your chance of studying abroad. NEXT.
TOTALLY KIDDING, KEEP READING…
As a senior at UT and a huge advocate for studying abroad I want to reach out to those who have this despicable misconception that IT IS TOO LATE FOR SENIORS TO STUDY ABROAD. You would be surprised how far communication gets you when you have an internal interest but never truly exercised the thought because you decided to determine your own fate rather than speaking to someone about it. This spiel of mine you are about to invest your time in will be highly valuable information to seniors. It will hopefully open opportunities for your last year at UT allowing you to contemplate every opportunity that is available to you. If you really want to study abroad but you think its too late because you’re getting old, keep calm and read on, Madison is here to help!
I am going to use myself as a prime example to prove that all seniors still have a chance to study abroad their very last year. Already having the opportunity to study abroad in Tasmania opened my eyes to a whole new world that I yearn to explore, as soon as possible. But, I am a senior who is supposed to be graduating this May, YIKES! Who wants to miss their graduation ceremony to celebrate the fact that they survived UT for 4-5 years?! Not me or plenty of other seniors. I went to talk to my advisor to see what my options were if I wanted to study abroad again and also graduate on time. To my surprise he said “Anyone can sign-up to walk at graduation. All you would do is extend the date that you would receive your diploma.” I have talked to to many students and the main issue is receiving the diploma at the time that we are supposed to.
Ladies and gents I would like to express that:
1) there should be no rush to get out of college, become a grown up with responsibilities and get a career that will be there for plenty of years to come.
2) We decide when we get our diploma and when we are done with school, no one else!
Yes, we see the words “4-year institute” and the school wants everyone out within 4-5 years but we also see the “dont smoke on campus” signs and I have seen plenty of students brush off that rule. Don’t let the social construct of following a 4 year program, getting a career, and soon after a family define what you want out of your life. Anywho, #liferantover #promise. Back to my advisor- so after speaking with him I decided to attend graduation ceremony, study abroad all summer in Queretaro, Mexico and receive my diploma either at the end of summer or December of 2016 (I am even thinking of doing an extra semester). The classes I am taking will be going towards my degree (I need them to graduate), but in other cases they do not need to go towards your degree, and I will be finishing my language requirement abroad! I took one language course at UT and did not enjoy it especially because I was not practicing my Spanish everyday. I feel like I need to be in a Spanish speaking environment in order to become truly fluent in the language.
So SENIORS do me a favor and come to our office so we can talk about what programs will be best for you to study abroad your last year! I hope the advice given was valuable and my spiel was entertaining. 🙂
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