A Girl Abroad: Off to Australia

By Nailah Russell
Lifestyle Editor

Our wonderful lifestyle editor Nailah is studying abroad for the semester butthis will be her monthly travel column for the duration of her stay. The staff of the Blue and Grey dearly misses her and wishes her safe and enlightening travels.

Hello and Goodbye (for now), Hood College! ‘Tis time I depart and embark on an adventure studying abroad in Sydney, Australia.
I’ll do my best to compress my excitement for this journey into a single column, but that’s nearly impossible. I’ve wanted to travel for as long as I can remember. Before I even picked a major, I knew that whatever I decided should take me to all the world’s corners.
The opportunity to study abroad is something for which I’m incredibly thankful. As a token of my appreciation, I’ll be taking you all with me as I submit a series of columns to the Blue & Grey journaling my experiences. I’ll also keep you updated with tons of photos through Hood’s new @hoodabroad Instagram account.
I haven’t even finished packing, yet I know this is an experience I’ll never forget. My classes are all squared away, I’ve got an interview lined up for an internship to partake in, and apparently New Zealand is the hot spot everyone’s planning to hit for Spring Break!
Though things are rolling along smoothly, and everything is now a simple matter of timely preparation and patience, I hit some turbulence before being able to coast.
As many of you know, Kate Emory, our previous study abroad coordinator left after the 2016 spring semester…and has yet to be replaced.
I truly appreciate the help of the faculty and staff to organize my business, including the folks at CAPA (the organization I’ll be studying abroad through), but this process clearly demonstrated that Ms. Emory’s position is quite important to say the least.
There are a multitude of steps and documents you need to be fully accepted into the program. Transcripts, letter of conduct, letters of recommendation (multiple depending on if you plan to do an internship), the request to study away, a form for the university keeping your records, and more.
Not to mention that studying abroad is expensive. Fortunately, CAPA allows you to apply the financial aid you receive at your home institution to pay for tuition at your school abroad. They also have some really neat things like Early Bird discounts, and because they’re partnered with Hood, there’s an added discount.
But it’s still expensive! And ya girl was scrambling for more financial aid.
CAPA has some scholarships you can apply for, but I heavily encourage looking for other outside scholarships to go abroad early. The Benjamin A Gilman scholarship is a biggie. If you’re involved with any honors organizations, check to see if they have study abroad scholarships. Phi Kappa Phi members…in case you didn’t know, I’m getting you hip now.
There’s also the Shirley Conner Hardinge Scholarship, of which I am a recipient. The Provost’s office is your contact point for this award. It’s also wise to keep your professors and advisor in the loop so they can help you snoop around for other funding opportunities.
Unfortunately, since there really isn’t a study abroad coordinator, information like this can quickly slip through the cracks and you can easily lose track of your needed points of contact.
I can recall specific points at which I was told that I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that I was speaking to the wrong person, and that I was doing things out of order. It was all quite frustrating and I almost/did miss deadlines because of forms I was completely unaware of. Still, everyone was very understanding and helpful nonetheless, including CAPA correspondents.
Now that I’m all set and ready to go, I know that this is the excitement I want for every student that is as passionate about traveling and learning abroad as I am. I want everyone to be able reach their goals, and I hope that sharing this complicated application process will encourage the quick and speedy replacement of Ms. Emory.
I would hate for anyone to be discouraged from this fruitful and unique adventure because of the missing link. This is an opportunity too precious to forsake.

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