Before leaving for Spain a majority of my conversations went,
"So I hear you are studying abroad. That's awesome where are you going?"
"I am going to Seville, Spain for both semesters, so about nine months."
"Nine months !? Wow, I could never do that. Why would you want to go abroad for so long?"
Now there are many factors going into the answer to this question and I asked myself this question many times. The best answer is the thought that drove me the most was when someone would say, "I could never do that". In my head, I would always wonder "why not?". Why are you scared to be away for so long? This was hard for me to understand because of who I am. I love my family, friends, and places I have lived but I love to be on my own. I am not much of a homebody. Some folks are, and love to be at home and in their own comfort zone. Many people never leave their comfort zone, which is great if that is your thing but that way of life is not my style.
The other factor was from my constant research on studying abroad. Since middle school studying abroad and traveling was the goal. It was never a dream because I knew that I had to make it a reality. So before leaving, I made a very conscious effort to talk to as many people who studied abroad as possible. Nearly everyone I had talked to always said they can not wait to go back and that they wished they studied abroad for longer. The most eye-opening part of those responses was the fact that so few of them had gone back and unfortunately a majority probably never will. So making my decision to study abroad for a year was a no-brainer for me. I never wanted to feel regret for not staying longer if anything I would rather get sick of a place than be left wanting more.
Now that my time studying abroad is almost up I wanted to give you a few pros and cons of studying abroad for a year and hopefully, this may help some people make their decision.
Pros
If you are in another country to practice/ learn a language the more time the more practice thus better results.
More time to travel and enjoy the place you are studying. When one is limited to a semester there is a problem of spending weekends in your city you are studying or traveling to other places. As long as a semester sounds it goes even faster when you travel every weekend. Double the friends. Being in a place for two semesters you get to become friends with that first-semester group but then see them leave and then it is sad but not long later you get a new group of folks and you are able to show them the ropes. Feeling like an actual resident. If you can recall freshman year of college it is a rollercoaster of emotions and going in and out of comfort zones but by the end of second-semester you finally feel comfortable and used to college life. Then once you're comfortable you have to move out. Same situation when studying abroad. Except about 3/4 through the semester is when everyone feels very comfortable and like a local but soon after that it is time to go home.
Now these are just 4 there are many more but in my opinion, these are the most important.
Cons
Money money money. This is the biggest turnoff for most people. The truth is yes, it is expensive in comparison to the average US university. The average tuition cost of in-state is just over 20,000 a year (www.topuniversities.com) I am paying 29,000 for tuition, room, and board. For some folks, it is cheaper to study abroad. The other costs are traveling. This can easily tack on a few more thousand. Yes it is expensive but it is worth it.
FOMO which means fear of missing out. Many are afraid of this and this causes people to miss many experiences. FOMO is part of the reason we are constantly checking our phones, to make sure we don't miss out on anything. The fact is, yes you will miss out on things while you are abroad. This was my first time ever not spending the holidays with all of my family. Also while abroad, UMD won the national championship in hockey which looked like a great time. The best way to get past that is knowing that almost everyone else wishes the could be studying abroad and living your life.
These are the main two cons and concerns when studying abroad especially for a year. At the end of the day, it is worth it.
Now if you do study abroad for a whole year I would recommend to not go home for winter break. Why? Most importantly it is expensive to go home and come back. Is it great to see the family and friends? Yes, of course, it is. One of the best parts of studying abroad is looking forward to seeing people from home and eating food you have missed. If you go back home your body will become used to being home and seeing everyone and it will make coming back abroad different. Different in a negative way. The truth is part of me wanted to go home during winter break. Yes, I was sad but it was the greatest growing experience of my whole study abroad.
I hope this is helpful if you are looking into studying abroad and questioning if a year is worth it. My bias is hell yes it is worth the money, the fomo, any reason you can think of not to study abroad. No matter what you choose semester or year it will be amazing. The ultimate advice I can give is saying yes to everything (except hard drugs). Experience as much as possible and enjoy!