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I am writing this blog on 23 January 2023, which marks 12 months since I boarded my flight to Madrid to begin my year studying abroad. I was doing a year overseas with my home university, the University of Texas at Austin. I remember my energy and eagerness. It feels surreal thinking back to how 2022 started when now feels like the typical start to another year.
I arrived in France in September 2021 full of dreams, fears and a swirl of emotions that I still can’t describe clearly.
I am from Colombia and grew up in a number of different cities around the country. I completed my undergraduate degree in civil engineering at EAFIT University in Medellín in 2021. During my degree, I discovered a passion for research, knowledge and a specific engineering field: computational mechanics.
Moving to a different country, leaving your friends, family and everything you know, can be daunting and scary. There were times when I had second thoughts and questioned if moving abroad was right for me. Many do not realise how difficult it is to move away and live as an international student in the hopes of a better life, career and future.
But now that I’m halfway through my studies, I can happily say it was the best choice I ever made. It made me independent and confident and I grew as a person. So, if you are considering this path, I couldn’t recommend it enough.
I was born and brought up in New Delhi, India, where I spent the first 17 years of my life as the single child of a working father and homemaker mother. I grew up in a good family and had great friends, so I wouldn’t say I grew up with the dream of leaving my country.
My journey toward an international education began when I was 15 years old, when my parents asked whether I might be interested in studying abroad.
Before studying for my PhD, I worked as a lecturer at a public university in Indonesia. The university is part of the country’s Ministry of Industry, which led me to research related to the economics of trade and industry, particularly in Indonesia. Naturally, the university was supportive of an employee pursuing a PhD in economics abroad, particularly in the field I had chosen.
As a student entrepreneur, I tend to draw similarities between what is required of an entrepreneur and of a student. The key trait of both is that the one who succeeds is not always the most intelligent but the one who plans and prepares the best.
Exams can be stressful, especially because your grades can potentially determine your career choices and higher education journey.
To excel as a student it is important to try to be a smart worker rather than a hard worker.
Unlike some people, I did not have a specific country or university in mind when I first started high school. However, I attended a school trip during the summer break of my sophomore year that helped me decide where I wanted to study.
As part of the trip, we visited Toronto and were all registered at an English language school. For a month, I had the chance to practice my English and experience student life in Canada. After that school trip, I decided to study in Canada and, in particular, Toronto.
My past three years at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have given me some of the best memories and experiences I could have asked for. But the process of choosing my university and moving to a whole new country was a daunting experience.