Student Blog

Liam Grigg, University of Victoria, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Sophia Antipolis, France

Having travelled alone for over a year, there are so many things that I have experienced that none of my friends were there to experience. When coming home, it is easy for anyone to immediately want to go into a lengthy, expansive storytelling; however, I have discovered that many people don’t actually want to sit and listen to all of the adventures. Although friends and family are interested, it can be difficult to relate to these stories, causing people to only being able to listen to so much. Life for everyone continues without me. Which sounds like a very normal and obvious idea, but yet there’s a...

By: Drew Moffatt, British Columbia Institute of Technology, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Barcelona, Spain

When coming home I knew it would be a big change yet again to adjust back to. It wasn’t until the end of my semester abroad did Barcelona start to feel like my second home; the food and the late eating hours, the laidback lifestyle of the city, and livelihood of its people. However, I did miss Vancouver a lot. My time away really showed me what I love so much about my country and what I shouldn’t take for granted. There are some things that I love a lot about Barcelona and even Europe; the food, the people, the siestas (best thing ever), and just little places that I won’t be able to fi...

By: Drew Moffatt, British Columbia Institute of Technology, winner of the BC Study Abroad: Stories from Abroad Scholarship

Study Abroad Destination: Barcelona, Spain

As the common saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover. The same goes for countries around the world. With people having an abundance of information at their fingertips, we can easily get misconstrued as to how we perceive a country nowadays. From social media to multiple news outlets, one never knows what to believe anymore.

I’ve always believed in the phrase “one must see it to believe it”. When travelling to Europe and being on exchange everyone was constantly worrying about my safety. During my time off from studies, I started to plan my little travels away from Barcelona...

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...