Dear past me,

You better be prepared for one of the most amazing and life-changing periods of your entire life. Right now, you have so many fake worst-case scenarios going through your mind. What if I don’t make friends? What if I hate my roommate? What if people are mean to me? What if the homesickness is too much? What if the Culture shock is too much to bear? Well in all honesty, those were not the most insane thoughts to be having. Thankfully, though, you were entirely wrong. You love your roommates and have a great friend group. Everyone has been insanely kind and welcoming, and you have had an absolute lack of any and all homesickness. In fact, you do not want to leave. You have also belded excellenlty into the culture and love this new country you are living in.

Over the next few months, you will grow so much as a person. You will meet people from all over the globe and expand your horizons. You will try new cuisines like Morrocan, Tanzinian, Indian, and Bangladeshi. You will interact with so many groups of people that your EQ will be through the roof. You will learn an incredible amount of information in your classes that are taught in the places they are about. How cool! You will learn to work in a true corporate environment for the first time and see how to interact with new kinds of people in the workplace. You will also explore so many countries and cities you had only ever dreamed of visiting. Your horizons will be expanded like never before!!!

Although the experience has been great, there were a couple of hiccups that you should watch out for. Make sure you stay focused in class because being in an amazing city like London leaves a lot of room for distraction. You do not want to leave any potential points in class on the table when you leave. Also, be careful with your spending. Money disappears here, somehow. The conversion is also killer. Maybe cook a little more. That really gets you with the money spending. No such thing as a cheap meal in London. Last thought: Get a credit card with no foreign transaction fee. How was that not step one?

So far, my experience would really shock you. Outside of some slight things that you most likely could have guessed, this experience has been incredible and smooth. You love your classmates, teachers, and roommates and have an amazing friend group. Be excited!!!