Student Blog

By: Julie Han, Simon Fraser University, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

I was genuinely surprised how quickly my life fell into the rhythm here in Amsterdam. Although, it took a significant amount of effort to start falling in the right direction. Outside of classes, I began fencing again and joined the student club, which luckily happened to be just down the road. I used to be a competitive fencer, but I quit after secondary school for some very long and complicated reasons. Another essential element of my life here in Amsterdam was Louise, a German exchange student who lived at the other end of the hall. Louise became my favourite person in Amsterdam.

Louise...

By: Julie Han, Simon Fraser University, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In secondary school, I got the opportunity to attend a program at the University of Calgary for four weeks. The first weekend, I got 56 mosquito bites in 24 hours. The next morning, my legs swelled up like balloon animals by a drunk birthday clown. Two weeks later, from maybe 100 meters above, a seagull dropped a gnarly bomb right on my phone screen – bullseye. One week later, I ripped my big toenail off with a door frame. And those four weeks were eerily reminiscent of my first four weeks here at the University of Amsterdam. My dumb luck.

As soon as I landed, I was struck with the thick m...

By Cheyenne Rode, Vancouver Island University, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Melbourne, Australia

The amazing thing about studying abroad is that your days can be vastly different. For example, one day you’re just like a regular student. You wake up at 8 am, go to class, get a much-needed coffee, study, hang out with your friends, then go to bed.

Although, of course, there are slight differences between this day and the same one back home. The classes you go to are filled with people from another culture. These people have different accents, views on life, and socials norms. Also, the coffee you drink is tremendously better than the ones back home as you’re living in...

By: Trisha Bhamra, Camosun College, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Mexico

My next favourite place was Circo de la Ninos. This place was actually started by one of the producers of Cirque du Soleil. If you know me at all….you know how much I love Cirque du Soleil. This place is special because it empowers young children and youth to take part in something outside of school and it inspires them to work towards to things that may seem impossible at first. Glades, who works closely with Circo de la Ninos, tells us that the main goal of this place is to make all kids feel they are all on the same playing field. Whether their parents are rich or poor, white or Mexican. The Circus makes this program...