6 questions to ask yourself before taking studies abroad

This post will come in handy for those guys and girls, who are thinking about studying outside their home countries. I will try going through some basic points that you should take into consideration before actually applying for the study programme.

In my case everything was quite simple. At the end of the first semester at my high school I had absolutely no idea about what I am going to study. I’ve always had this passion for graphics and web development and I was willing to study it but I had never thought about doing this in Lithuania. I dunno why, I know for a fact that there are programmes in my home country similar to what we have here but I never took them serious. I was going to apply for Logistics management, Culinary studies, Photography or some kind of engineering studies. But my salvation happened when Marat approached me with an offer:

- Hey. Let’s take studies in Denmark.
- What kind of?
- Multimedia.
- Ok :)

This was it. I always had a feeling that I will study my subject somewhere abroad, I just needed some kind of, I would call it, kick in the ass. What is more, I LOVE travelling. I love seeing new places, I love experiencing live there, I love meeting new people. I am just curious about how things work in different places. It’s my natural desire. Enough about me, let’s move on to what I promised in the beginning.

IS YOUR ENGLISH GOOD ENOUGH?
Its quite essential to be able to communicate in English fluently. You will have all your studies, work, almost all free time and even big part of your household in English. Are you sure you are able to handle that? If you read this blog and have no problems with understanding what I say - that’s good enough to come here. You’d probably feel quite comfortable even in England itself. When I first came here it was a bit hard for me to start talking English, but later on I got used to it and now I even dream in this language. I still know how to talk Lithuanian though.

ARE YOU ABLE TO LEAVE YOUR FAMILY/FRIENDS?
At first you are really hyped with all this “independent” & “self sufficient” stuff but later on you start regretting you didn’t spend the last days before starting studies with your family. You are likely to miss your friends, too. You can’t realise how much do your friends mean to you while you haven’t left them for at least three - four months. Then you start to understand what the real friendship is. The same goes for the family - although you always thought that they don’t understand you, you will get over that rebel period and understand how important to you these people really are.

DO YOU REALLY WANT TO STUDY THAT SUBJECT?
I know that some people would study whatever they see on a studies advertisement posters just to get away from their roots. In my opinion this isn’t a correct attitude. You should examine studie’s curriculum in and out and be sure to weight all pros and cons. Some people, who started last semester have already quit because they realised that this isn’t their area at all (programming and computer graphics work mostly) - they are in their home countries now. Another thing to know is that it’s almost impossible to get a job in a Danish company after studies, they don’t need international people.

ARE YOU AN EASY GOING PERSON?
Well, you probably are if you are actually considering studying abroad. You can’t be afraid to ask people for help or stay behind everyone’s back all the time. Don’t be afraid to start the conversation first, others will follow your example and start chatting. I am a quiet person but only if I don’t have anything to say or if the topic is not interesting. I can’t talk about the weather like most British or Danish people can. I prefer keeping things real.

DO YOU HAVE A SOURCE FOR MONEY?
Do not expect to find a job here. Aarhus is the second city in Denmark by it’s size and it’s still quite difficult to get a job here (haven’t heard about any problems finding a job in Copenhagen though). Be prepared to spend 3000+ of krones every month. International students cannot receive the Danish SU (scholarship; I believe you have to have had worked here for two years before you gain right to receive it, right? Would be grateful if some Danish guys could enlighten me about that) unless they come here by special student exchange programmes (Erasmus for example). Probably you will be using your parent’s money at the beginning, later on they’ll just keep sending it to you no matter you need it or not. It’s your choice what to do with it, I’m saving money for an HD camera and I often need to buy parts for my skateboard :)

ARE YOU ABLE TO COPE WITH BIG AMOUNT OF WORK?
Some people say it’s easy to study in Denmark, others say vice versa. The studies themselves are not difficult and you have lots of free time but during the projects things get rather tight and you have to cope with a really big amount of work. During the last project there were times when my group worked till 7 o’clock in the morning. Then 5 hours of sleep and back to work again. You even become immune to caffeine. Don’t forget that you’re likely to have your job duties during the projects. Think about it.

You should also know what do you expect from your studies. For me it was good experience, lot’s of fun, new surroundings, interesting people and unexpectidly I understood that I really know nothing about producing webpages and selling them. It was the best finding I could ever expect and I am happy I have an ability to study here. If your answer for the most of the above questions was Yes, then you could probably take studies abroad. Good luck and stay tuned!