Way Before The Beginning

I have always wanted to study overseas. I want to explore new cultures and make new friends. I want to expand my worlds and grow out of my comfort zones.

I shouldn’t have written this as I was in the second week of my final IB exam, but here it goes nonetheless.

For me to fly, as set by my sponsor, ytp-mara, I need to get at least 35 or above out of 45 points in IB. I highly think that it is doable.

Since I chose the United States as my country of study, I need to finish everything rather quickly as compared to my peers who will go to the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. We need to confirm our university of choice as of 1 May.

Then, we need to plan for our accommodation as the university deadlines are approaching. Most university requires their students to live on-campus as 1st year students. However, Penn State allows sponsored international students to apply for an off-campus exemption.

Most of my friends, including me, opt to choose to live off-campus, since it’s cheaper and we can cook for ourselves. Now here comes the hardest part: If you want to live off-campus, you need to make sure you have a senior from that university that you can contact.

This is to ensure you have accommodation as soon as you arrive. My senior told me to stay with them first and then look for a house to rent physically, rather than booking one online—because some of my seniors got scammed when they rented a house online.

Also, my sponsor shared a story about how some of my seniors had to stay in a hotel on the first day because they arrived late and missed the meeting with the landlord for the key handover.

Luckily, I have a contact with a senior from my high school. We talked for 1 hour on Discord, and he agreed to help me find accommodations. He said, “It is our duty as seniors to help you guys settle in here. Previously, we were on the receiving end, now it is our turn. Chill.”

It is still too early for me to be excited, as I need to fulfill my sponsor’s requirements first.

Well, I think this is the end for my first blog entry. The next episode will be about my pre-departure which is about my experience with the visa and all that stuff you need to do before flying. Maybe I post it in about a month or two? Anyway thanks for reading!