Student Blog

By Janna Wale, Thompson Rivers University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

Have you ever had something you really wanted to do on your bucket list for such a long amount of time, that when you are actually accomplishing it you keep having moments of “Am I really here right now?” This is the kind of surrealism that overwhelmed me when I made it to the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

It felt wonderful.

Simply put, the Giant’s Causeway is a portion of the Northern Irish coast shaped by the rapid cooling of super-heated magma from thousands of years ago into a series of hexagonally fractured rock columns. Picture rock honeycombs. The columns themselves are all different heights, but are all roughly the same size and are all almost perfec...

By Janna Wale, Thompson Rivers University, winner of the 2017 Stories from Abroad Scholarship.

Another day coming to a close. I’ll try and keep from letting the sound of rain hitting the roof distract me. That’s one thing that I’ve been loving since I moved to Inverness, Scotland. I just really like the calm feeling that rain brings when the sun has gone down and you can just sit with a hot tea and listen, maybe reading another chapter or two of that book. Or finishing that essay that needs to be started…hmm..

Today was normal. Sort of. I’m still learning all kinds of new things about living abroad in Scotland. Crash courses in adapting to change and culture have been offered here and there over the last few years of my life, with moving around and meeting people fr...

By: Iris Kha, Capilano University. Winner of the 2016 Remes Family Study Abroad Scholarship.

My decision to study abroad was very last minute. It all began when I woke up one morning and decided something needed to change – myself. I was tired of the daily routines that provided little to no stimulation. My life felt dull and uninteresting. So I thought to myself – I need a challenge, a quest, a journey, and an adventure that will help me grow and become a strong, independent individual – no more friends to rely on, no more dotting family members – just me.

There was a lot on my mind the few days, weeks, and month before my departure: a lot of metal preparation that needed to be done on my part. This was my first time travelling abroad on my own and my firs...

It is nearing the end of what has been a dream of a semester abroad at Bocconi University in Milan, Italy. Having travelled to over 30 cities in the past four months, I must admit that although studying abroad is everything it is glorified to be and more, there are a lot of moments of utter chaos and confusion that lead to those picture perfect moments. Instances of homesickness, fitting in, and balancing school work with travelling, along with maintaining a social life in fear of missing out. The truth is that, sometimes you find yourself in situations where you have no idea what you’re doing and miss the comforts of familiarity at home. 

However, despite not understanding the language, you find comfort amidst the smiling faces of strangers. Through the wrong turns taken down narrow windi...