Lets get this show rolling!

Alright, its that time again. I figured since I have more or less a month till I have to be at the airport, I might as well start posting something in relation to this whole endeavor. So, that being said, I think I'll start with what one should consider or plan when deciding to go off and study abroad.

First thing one should realize is that you need a plan. An attack plan so that you can catch the enemy with their pants down. A plan is key, a plan is everything, you do not disobey the plan or the consequences will be dire. Everyone, including your dog, will shun you and you will be cast out like a plagued rat to the street corner... Okay, maybe not dire. Your dog won't shun you but everyone else will, including the study abroad program you are applying for.

So, what am I trying to say? I'm saying you need to be organized and plan ahead. You need to try and have everything ready before they ask you for it. I myself have never been a really organized person. Well, not for a lot of things anyway. I first talked to my program coordinator well over a year ago. Granted that some of the things he told me went in one ear and out the other, but I still managed to get everything done well in advance.

So, my best suggestion for you in the early stages of going to study abroad would be that as soon as the idea hits your noggin, get as much information on it as you can. Check to see what paperwork or documents you will need. Try and figure out what deadlines you will need to observe and how much things will cost you. Usually, you can get all this information from the program coordinator or from the program website. Neither of these two will refuse you information and if anything, talking to a program coordinator will be the best thing you can do. Use whatever resources you have at your disposal.

Once the idea has firmly cemented itself in your brain, and its something that you can do, then by all means do it. If you got the information ahead of time and started looking into what things you already have ready and what you need to get ready, then you should be able to have everything done well before the deadline for the application. I am not saying things will magically get done on their own if you did the research in advance, but you will still have to do all the leg-work.

Now, I am not saying that nothing will go wrong. Something has to go wrong in order for something to turn out right. So expect it and be prepared. I think with my application, the only issue I had was that I accidentally filled out an outdated version of one of the forms in the application packet. I found this out because the program coordinator in Japan contacted my program coordinator here in the States and emailed him the newer version of the form that I needed to fill out. This was after my original application packet had already been mailed to Japan. If you've ever mailed anything to another country, you know it takes time. Something like this is perhaps common, but if not handled immediately, it can delay your application. However, because I had done the research before hand and managed to have everything ready in advance and turned in my application well before the original deadline, I was able to fill out the new form and send it to them in a timely manner. Obviously everything worked out.

SO! If you have kept on reading through my rambling, you should have a clearer idea of what I'm trying to tell you. However, if you are the type of person that likes to read the beginning and then skip to the bottom, I will impart upon you my advice in a different manner...

"Vision without action is a daydream; action without vision is a nightmare." -Japanese Proverb-

Oddly enough, this little piece of advice came to me through means of a bottle cap, given to me by a classmate that knew I was going off to Japan to study abroad.

Lets see how many more bottle caps I can base my advice off of.