Speaker 1: Check, check. Greetings and salutations friends. I know it has been a minute, but I hope you guys enjoy this change of scenery. Right now we are at the Impala Research Center where I am doing a six week documentary filmmaking course. I know I haven't been posting too much lately besides the vlogs and I haven't done a sit down video in a while. So today I thought I'd make a quick video about six tips while studying abroad. We've been here about three weeks, so we're halfway through the program and there's a lot of things that I've learned along the way that could help you guys if you are looking to study abroad either over the summer or in the upcoming semesters. If you're new to the channel, welcome. I make videos about college and lifestyle, photography, fashion, and film. So if any of that sounds interesting, please make sure to hit that subscribe button because we are so close to hitting 100,000 subscribers. All right. Tip number one is that you need to prepare for the difficulties and I think that coming to Africa especially, I've learned a lot about just mentally preparing yourself before coming on this trip, knowing that it's going to be probably one of the most difficult times of your life. Just being away from your family, being away from your comfort of your home and things that you are very much used to. So if you go in with the mentality of embracing the difficulty and embracing the challenge, I promise that you're going to come out a much happier person, a much changed person because you're just going to have a lot of new perspectives that you probably wouldn't have had if you were closed minded and didn't open yourself up to these new types of experiences. So before you leave, I think it's important to make a mental note of what you hope to gain out of this trip and your experiences because if you don't have a sense of what you're looking to get out of it, then you're going in this whole program with just no sense of direction, no sense of purpose and it's honestly just going to be a waste of time. So if you try and make note of, you know, I want to learn more about the culture of this country. I want to learn more about the specific program that I'm doing. You're just going to have a lot more fun during your time abroad and it's just going to make the process a lot easier for you as well. Some opportunities will genuinely only happen once or twice in your life and if you don't take the time to embrace what's right in front of you, then you're going to regret it looking back. So if you want to embrace the culture, a lot of these places that you're going to be going to are places you've probably never been to before and if you don't understand the cultural norms and practices that that country offers, then it's going to be very difficult for you to acclimate and adjust properly and you're going to be faced with a lot of cultural shock. There are 100% going to be times when you're abroad and there are going to be people doing things that you have never seen before in your life and rather than being ignorant to what those people are doing, you know, take the time to educate yourself and embrace that culture for what it is and take the time to learn more about it because that's the beauty of traveling and studying abroad is that you have these opportunities and experiences to talk with some people that you will probably never meet again but have such different or even similar lifestyles to yourself. So see how your lives are different. See how they're also similar and what aspects of one culture can be appreciated and adopted from yourself. And coming back to the States, there are going to be a ton of things that I've learned and adopted from the African and Kenyan culture that I'm super grateful to have experienced. So if you don't take the time to learn more about it and once again, educate yourself either by talking to the locals, just going on the internet and doing some research about where you're at. Like you're not going to be able to get the most out of that trip. And then once again, it's just going to be a waste. Number three is that I've learned that it's very important to take time for yourself, especially when you're studying abroad. You're probably going to be with a school group or other classmates and peers and as great as it is and you're going to make so many new friends, it's important that you just need to take the time to sit by yourself for a couple of hours, either reading a book, doing things that you're passionate about and just having some mental headspace to yourself because when you're in class or with a ton of other people, it gets easy to just get caught up in that noise. You know, it's the same thing when being at school as you're abroad. So just take the time for yourself, but at the same time, you don't want to be a hermit and be alone all the time. So it is also a great time to make new friends, for you to get to know one another on a level that you normally wouldn't have, especially at school when you're just meeting someone for the first time. Number four, it is very important to bring things to do when you're bored. I think that's probably one of the biggest mistakes I made. Even though I brought a ton of books, I also brought my keyboard so I could practice some music production. You know, there are still times where I'm bored and as much as I want to get on the internet and text friends or whatever, number one, our internet doesn't work really well and number two, the times are different. So anytime I want to call my friends, I have to wait really late, but I highly recommend taking the opportunity when you're studying abroad to, you know, learn a new skill, you know, practice a new language, try things that you normally wouldn't have because you have so much downtime that you might as well do something productive rather than just sitting at home watching Netflix. And if you are like us out here without Wi-Fi, then yeah, you're definitely going to need something to do. Number five is don't take things for granted, man. I've learned a ton just being here for a couple of weeks and I'm realizing that upon returning to the States, I will never take things for granted again because I'm so grateful and so fortunate for the blessings I do have. And you know, you're so used to the comforts of your home and your routine day to day things that you often don't realize. Just the littlest things in your life are so valuable and realizing that not everyone in the world is as fortunate as we are right now to be filming on a camera, to be watching this on a laptop, that is priceless in so many countries. So it's a big revelation I've had and yeah, just keep that in mind as you guys are studying abroad. Finally, the last tip is live in the moment, guys. There are going to be some of the most incredible experiences you have while you're abroad and if you're stuck in your phone, either on Snapchat or Instagram, wanting to post about it and as guilty as we all are, myself included, you're going to regret it. You know, living in the moment is one of the most precious things you can do and it's honestly the most valuable and should be the reason that you're going on these trips is that you want to experience these things for yourself, not for anyone else. You know, and I'm guilty as anyone. I'm always on my Instagram stories or sharing snaps with my friends, but there are some things that are better just to experience for yourself and you know, being a vlogger, being a photographer and filmmaker, that is my biggest challenge of, you know, finding that balance between living in the moment and wanting to capture that moment. You know, get off your phone. You don't need to be sharing everything 24-7. Be present and aware and just take some experiences for yourself and you know, that's a big lesson that I'm trying to teach myself and moving forward, I will definitely be more cognizant of. Yeah guys, that about wraps it up for the six tips for studying abroad. I hope that they were helpful and that if you guys are looking to study abroad, you can apply them to your own life and can hopefully make your experience enjoyable. Right now, we have about three more weeks out here and then I'm heading to New York for a little bit, but once again, if you enjoyed this video, make sure to drop a comment down below. Please help me hit my goal of hitting 100,000 subscribers by hitting that subscribe button. It would literally mean the world to me and I would appreciate your support and yeah, let's build. Peace.