It’s the day the results come through. You’re sat, refreshing your email to see if MyPlacement has been updated and you can finally find out where you’re going to study abroad. Which university will I be allocated to? Which city will I next call home? Sydney, Melbourne, Hong Kong?? The anticipation is palpable.
For me, I had my heart set on Paris. I know you’re supposed to be prepared to go to any of 8 top choices, but naïvely, I’d already fallen in love with the idea of strolling down the Seine during lunch breaks, taking in the cityscape with my morning baguette and visiting galleries on the weekend. In my head, my top choice of partner university, was the only choice I was going to be happy with.
Then look, it’s an email from the IPO, new activity on MyPlacement. Here we go, Seine, galleries, baguettes…. Oh. Jean Jaures in Toulouse… Well, it’s still France, I told myself. I can still take a train up to the capital, I tried to reassure myself.
I won’t deny the initial disappointment. I was so set on my first choice that I hadn’t properly considered my other chosen destinations. After a couple of hours of moping around because of the allocation and a few encouraging words from my family, I decided to let go of my initial envision of my study abroad and start focusing on my new reality. Once I detached myself from being solely invested in one destination, it all changed.
My eyes were opened to this new city, this new university, this new adventure. I started exploring Toulouse on Google Street View, investigating the best bars and clubs, looking into the different societies at my partner university and started falling for the little quirks of my new city. I was excited in a whole new way. Unlike when I was considering going abroad or filling out my application, now, I had a confirmed place. These Google Street tours and university Facebook pages would soon be a reality. I was reassured with the knowledge that every partner university was Manchester approved. Even if it was not where I thought I would end up, I was guaranteed a high standard of teaching and a location, full of opportunities for international students. Realising that adventure lay in all potential destinations, taught me a whole new approach to study abroad. There will always be unpredictability when going away, but this doesn’t need to sour your experience. What actually affects your enjoyment of your time abroad, is how you respond to that change in circumstance. I learnt to make the most of whatever situation I landed in whilst I was away and most of the time, situations that may have seemed initially disappointing, normally worked out for the better.
To anyone else who may be disappointed or worried about not being allocated their first choice, I would like you to know, what truly makes study abroad great, is universal across all of Manchester’s partner universities. For me, at the heart of study abroad is meeting students from across the world, living in a foreign culture and environment, learning your degree from an international perspective and challenging yourself. Whether you’re going to be studying in one of the campuses across the USA, or you’ll be moving into a high-rise flat in Singapore or your weekends will be spent in the mountains of Norway, you will all experience the fundamental qualities that make study abroad great. So, just know, regardless of if you are allocated your 1st, 3rd or even your 8th choice, there is an incredible adventure waiting for you.
I ended up having the most amazing time in Toulouse and I’m planning on returning after I’ve graduated. I strolled down the Garonne on my lunch breaks, took in the medieval architecture and always had my morning baguette. I even got in my weekend trip up to Paris, the city I was initially so disappointed to miss out on. However, now, when I look back on my allocation, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.