{"id":3741,"date":"2019-08-22T14:41:23","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T14:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/?p=3741"},"modified":"2022-04-13T15:42:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T15:42:20","slug":"applying-for-a-year-abroad-my-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/applying-for-a-year-abroad-my-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Applying for a year abroad- my story"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

One of my major inspirations for studying Geology was the opportunity\nto travel- this dream has finally come true! This is due to some very hard work\nand a pinch of good luck. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

My A-Levels weren\u2019t what I expected, and I ended up at\nCardiff through clearing (best thing that ever happened to me) so I was\nenrolled on the BSc Geology course- not the MESci with International year I was\nso desperate to be on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sparked me to work my socks off to get onto the course\nwith the international year and here I am!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The process of applying to do an international year was\ncomplicated but I was given loads of support from both staff at Cardiff and at\nmy host university.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Around Christmas time, all students enrolled on the\ninternational course attended a presentation where the application process was\nexplained to us followed by a slideshow showing the possible hosts, we were\nshown various universities around the world such as Miami, Australia, Sweden\nand finally, Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was set on going to Canada for my year abroad from day one.\nI had researched some different universities there prior to discovering my\noptions and was delighted when it was announced University of British Columbia was\non the list of host universities. My delight faltered slightly when I\ndiscovered there was only one place available at UBC and a potential 18\napplicants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were two parts to the application- firstly, a general\napplication form- mostly questions to gain contact information and possible\nmodule choices for your top three choices- and then the scarier half: a\nsupporting essay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Guidelines for Supporting Essay<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The essay was split into three major sections:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Motivation for studying abroad,<\/li>
  2. How will this opportunity benefit you\npersonally, professionally and academically?<\/li>
  3. What qualities will make you a good ambassador\nfor Cardiff University when you are away?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

     I spent the Christmas\nholidays writing the essay of my life, showing off how much research I had done\ninto the local area, including the geology. I talked about how the modules\noffered at UBC would be far more beneficial than those offered at Cardiff and\nhow I had overcome many obstacles (including my poor mental health) to be in\nthe position to apply for a year abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     I waited a lifetime\nfor the decision – three weeks. I couldn\u2019t think about anything else and then one\nTuesday lunchtime sat in the Taf with friends I saw an email entitled: International Exchange Placement –\nConfirmation Required. <\/strong>My whole body went numb and I panicked my friends by repeatedly\nshouting \u201cOH MY GOD\u201d with zero explanation, when I eventually opened the email\nand saw \u201cyou have been nominated to University of British Columbia\u201d <\/strong>I jumped\nup screaming and climbed over my friends (very awkwardly as I was sat in the\nmiddle of a booth), ran outside and phoned everybody I could possibly think of,\nsobbing down the phone. It felt like such an achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"
    My letter of acceptance from UBC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    After I received my nomination everything went through pretty nicely for me, in April I received my acceptance letter from UBC and applied for housing (which I\u2019m sure I will detail in a future blog post) and that was that! I am now sat preparing for my flight to Vancouver in just over a week and I truly cannot wait!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of my major inspirations for studying Geology was the opportunity to travel- this dream has finally come true! This is due to some very hard work and a pinch […]","protected":false},"author":1720,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[269],"tags":[267,262,286,400,274],"class_list":["post-3741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-international-exchange","tag-cardiff-earth","tag-cardiff-university","tag-international-exchange","tag-ubc","tag-vancouver"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4QQbz-Yl","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2211,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/exploring-panama-city\/","url_meta":{"origin":3741,"position":0},"title":"Exploring Panama City","author":"Conor White","date":"June 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two flights after leaving Cardiff, travelling first to Paris and then across the Atlantic, we arrived in Panama. Having settled into the accommodation provided by the Panama Canal Authorities (ACP), we found our way around the immediate locality and explored the old town as well as visiting the historical museum\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "International Summer Programmes"","block_context":{"text":"International Summer Programmes","link":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/category\/summer-programmes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/281\/2017\/06\/SAM_4290-450x338.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2230,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.cardiff.ac.uk\/globetrotters\/coring-and-exploring\/","url_meta":{"origin":3741,"position":1},"title":"Coring and Exploring","author":"Conor White","date":"June 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Our first day in the field was an introduction in order to understand and recognise the major rock formations along the Gaillard Cut part of the canal. 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