5 Fantastic Advice on How to Begin a New Academic Year in a Right Way
Order in right wayYet again, we face a new school year, and college students all around the world prepare themselves for a rather busy academic season. These preparations are especially vital for international students that plan to spend next year or several years studying abroad. Aside from all academic hustle, you will have to deal with an entirely new culture to adapt to and people that sometimes have very different lifestyles and customs. All those facets may cause a lot of stress, but you really should not nervous and accept all challenges as they are. We have designed these five amazing tips that will allow you to make a smooth and successful start on a new academic year.
1. Enrich yourself with new friends whenever you have a chance
It is an entirely new unrivaled experience to hang out with people that you study with that came from different parts of the world. You all face the same challenges and difficulties, making it much easier to create a relationship with one another. Whatever you do in a new place, you will always be experiencing homesickness, and this is normal, you need to find a way to deal with it by distracting yourself. All-in-all, the most effective way to get yourself familiar with a new culture and people is to push yourself out of your comfort zone, no matter how difficult it might be. By befriending yourself with local students, you are going to raise your language skills to a whole new level, making a whole bunch of friends along with it. Another essential thing to remember when trying to socialize with new people is that you don’t want to be scared of being different. Remember, that teasing on that background of cultural differences is nothing more than a simple sign of affection. You will also benefit from attending different groups and clubs that are widely available even in the smallest of universities, all you have to do is to go for what makes you happy and causes interest, and devoted friends in no time will surround you.
2. Organize your finances
You should consult your local bank whether it charges you for withdrawing funds in a country of your current location because, in some cases, just set up an account in a local bank is the most simple and moneywise solution there is. It is rather easy to go ahead and open a new bank account. A good thing to remember here is to view and read all instructions and rules of this local finance institution carefully not to get yourself in trouble by spending extra money on unnecessary fees that you could have easily avoided. It is rather convenient to possess a budget that takes into account the cost of tuition, but you are also going to require a statement that funds unplanned expenses. A simple example of a non-planned fee here would be a tip that you are obliged to give in addition to the bill in the restaurant, and you can’t afford to abandon this procedure out of fear of being wrongly understood. To avoid financial problems, add 15 to 20 percent of your planned expenses to be solvent in case you go beyond your initial budget. The essential thing is to take into account transportation costs because they might add a substantial sum of money to your expenses. Depending on your studying location, you are going to require a bus pass, a bike, or even a car. Always keep one thing in mind that it doesn’t matter whether it is a food finance planning, insurance bills money or transportation expenses, you will still have to keep your finances in check because you are far away from home and from people that could easily lend you a certain amount of money.
3. Choose a favorable cell phone plan
Unfortunate things that the United States, for example, have a consumer-unfriendly cell phone plans preferably all around the globe. People there seem to be tolerating these expenses only because there is no alternative whatsoever. On the other hand, there are always ways to shop around wisely, getting much better deals from those that other people are used to. Most cell phone plans in this country are 2-yer ones, and this may be far too long since not every international student is planning to study for that period. A thing to do here is to go to the nearby office of the mobile operator and find out how to avoid penalties when getting out of this contract. You have always got to remember that whenever you deal with prices, it is much rather that you get a better deal from a smaller provider slightly from a huge and popular one. Some of those providers may reject using your phone with their services. Others, on the other hand, are going to be completely ok with it. These are crucial things to consider, and, if done right, they may save you quite a lot of money.
4. Be careful with what you are going to eat
Funny as it sounds, you do have to be cautious about what you eat because you can quickly gain a tremendous amount of weight in no time simply because you don’t bother at all about things that you put in your mouth, spoiling your health rather drastically. The diversity of food in the U.S. is enormous, but you will have to be very careful and selective in order not to put your health at risk and stay fit throughout your entire stay. You don’t have to be paranoid about food, try to be a little bit more selective, and don’t eat excessive portions of each meal. This little experience of differing healthy meals from a junk one is going to make you a lot of good in the future.
5. Stay balanced
It is rather challenging to find a healthy balance between schoolwork and fun that you are going to be able to have with your new friends. Every single international student has to deal with this issue and be smart enough to stay balanced between these essential things. It depends on your goals for the future to decide whether you want to socialize more than study or do it the other way around. You might also aim for top grades no matter what which is also a good idea for most times. However, in the end, it doesn’t matter what your real goals are, you are going to experience errors and disappointments all the time, but you will have to learn to deal with them and when you do – you are going to become a student of the entirely new level. Try to implement these crucial; tips in your life, and you will find out that they are essential for your development into one successful professional.
