Archive for August, 2010

Guest Post on Greek for Me: Benefits of Studying Abroad

Following up on my last guest post with Greek for Me in which I discussed social media, I wrote another piece describing the benefits of studying abroad in relation to employment opportunities.

Read the article here:
http://blog.greekforme.com/2010/08/studying-abroad-must-do-for-every-college-student-by-barbara-leung/

greek for me study abroad feature 1024x720 Guest Post on Greek for Me: Benefits of Studying Abroad

Studying Abroad: Must-Do for Every College Student, by Barbara Leung

College is often associated with a time of learning and exploration, so it is no wonder that schools encourage students to spend at least a semester abroad. But being away from one’s beloved campus may leave one unsure of the decision to spend the semester abroad; however, there are great reasons to study and live abroad, even if it is for a semester.

It may be unnerving to leave the college campus that you know so well only to find yourself somewhere completely foreign, but do recognize the fact that you will be doing so anyway within your four years of college. And should you pursue a path directly into the workforce into graduation, as opposed to more schooling, you are going to be looking for employment, which can be tough in today’s society. Many employers note that having international experience, whether it is work or study related, can give you an edge in the job hunt. But how?

The reason behind the likening of international experience ties in directly with another reason to study abroad. In living abroad, you are exposed to different cultures and presented a different set of values. Learning to adapt is a soft skill that can be practiced and actively used in your time abroad, along with bettering your social interaction skills in uncomfortable situations. When I lived in France (and I will be again come September), many of my friends and I needed to communicate with the locals in spite of our evidently lacking French skills. There is a certain confidence you develop in such situations, that you wouldn’t be able to harness on your old college campus.

On a more personal level, you often find that you will get to know yourself better when you live in a foreign country. The reason being is that you are removed from your usual group of friends and your habits (e.g. aloofness), while normal on the college campus, can be brought to light in a different community. That heightened self-awareness, when you bring it back to your college and job interviews, is incredibly important as you can better position yourself in certain ways when the situation calls for it (e.g. make more of an effort to be friendlier on first impressions).

With all this discussion on developing skills and broadening global perceptions, don’t forget that studying abroad is fun! The experiences that you share with friends, whether they are new or old, are going to be extremely memorable. Remember, employers also went to college once, and may have studied abroad too. Such can be that door opener, perhaps he studied in the same city as you, for conversation, which allows the employer to learn a little more about you and give you that upper-hand, as he will have both personality and career experience to evaluate come decision time.

August 10, 2010

Studying Your Passion: Why Some Just Don’t

study library 254x300 Studying Your Passion: Why Some Just Don’t In my junior year of high school, the graduating class was composed of some of the most musically gifted students that any grade twelve class could ask for. And some went on to pursue their post secondary studies in music, and some in other fields of the arts. One of which was an award winning pianist who entered University of Toronto’s prestigious music performance program with piano as his main instrument (although he was also a great vocalist). About halfway through my senior year, I heard he had switched to include psychology in his field of study; but instead of hearing words commending him for diverse interests (mind you, he continued performing and competing in piano), all that could be said by the department head of music was, “he just didn’t have the discipline to continue with the hours needed for music performance, so he switched to psychology.”

I’ve kept mum on this discussion until now, because I was never quite sure what to make of the statement. But lately, I’ve been thinking about what makes for the challenge of studying your passion or something that you have invested a lot of your time in, I noted that there is a careful line on which one walks when choosing to studying something like such.

Whether one wants to admit it or not, any program will subjugate you to their thought process and way of going about things, and thus it is your job to fit into one of these modes of thinking. There may be some leeway allowing your experiment, but there is still a range to which you must conform. On a broader sense, one could relate such to the idea of being a good fit for a particular school; if you had the opportunity to select which university you attended, and the decision was not financial/program based, you often based your decision on whether or not you liked the crowd. In a similar and a more specific sense, this is what I mean by fitting into the program’s mode of operation. Outright rejecting the methodologies practiced does not necessarily make you a bad student, but perhaps, positions you as someone that beckons a different approach to learning.

Talk to any freshman who just finished their first year of college and is already contemplating a different major, and ask them why they are wanting to switch. They’ll often tell you that the major that they were once so passionate for was because of a particular teacher who taught the material in a way that engaged them. The intense theory that the school may throw at you, though, may make you realize that your desire to learn more about this subject is either superficial, or in a direction different from which you want in which you want to engage yourself. For those that have spent years training or studying what many have deemed their “passion,” the difficulty may be ever more present.

Passion for a particular field of study is, in itself, something different and something raw. To refine it often seems as though it is functioning to compliment a practical love. What I mean by the idea of a practical love (one could also say passion, but I would like to differentiate the terms without using italics) is the love for an activity that is conducive to contributing to society and the economy in a positive light. So what one could say is that in becoming a music teacher, there is the practical enjoyment in teaching, but the teachable/specialty may be rooted in the passion. In which case, the driving force is not to further the passion in music, but rather, to further the desire to teach others.

To say that one does not have the discipline to continue in a field of study because they are opting for another, which is new to them, is statement of no value. Furthering education in your passion is complicated; the fit into thought processes and desire to engage in a theoretical direction is incredibly important and is sensitive to the person’s prior training and direction. Moving into a new field of study does not require refining of the aged and studied passion, and therefore, immersing oneself into such studies is far easier. Of course, blending both passion and practical love and other desires is a possibility, provided that the passion is only acting as a compliment to such.

Image via PMI.org

August 4, 2010

The “Adventure” of Apartment Hunting in France

paris apartment workspace 200x300 The “Adventure” of Apartment Hunting in France Maybe just as important as obtaining that visa sticker for your passport is finding a place to live. Although NYU does offer its services in finding its students housing while abroad, I opted to find an apartment on my own since I wanted full control of where I would be living (i.e. I didn’t want to leave it up to chance that I may wind up with a two-transfer hour-long commute from the 13th arr.). So you must be thinking, “isn’t it really hard if you’re not there to see the apartments?” Well, yes it is.

Before you can start making deals, you are going to have to look at the possibilities and realize your budget. The short route to all of this, of course, is to contact a broker or an agency, but I’m looking to see all the possibilities and to minimize extra costs. From having rented an apartment before, I realized that my budget would be running around 900€ choses comprises (which means utilities and electricity bills are included) for approximately 200 sq ft with a washing machine and convection oven (these are my two deal breakers). Of course, you could tell me to forgo the washing machine and I’d have plenty more options available, but you have to realize that to do one load of whites and colors, and then dry, runs you about 9€ each time. I rather just integrate that in my budget and have the convenience of walking five seconds instead of five minutes. Anyway, there are several places to look for an apartment, seloger.fr, FUSAC, and Craigslist.

I considered using Se Loger, but I realized quickly that a lot of the available apartments were not within my budget or not in locations that I was considering (I wanted to secure this as soon as possible, and started looking from late April through June); well, I also found the website difficult to use (some things would load and some wouldn’t, it was all just very odd). The last apartment I stayed in, I found through Craigslist. But when sifting through the listings this time around, they were either out of my budget or were scams. Adhere to that old saying, if it’s too good to be true, then it can’t be; it’s much better to err on the side of caution in this case, as opposed to thinking you struck lucky. Knocking two out of three resources from my list, I stuck to using FUSAC, which is a classifieds listing geared towards ex-pat anglophones. Eventually, I did find an apartment within my price range and to my liking – 880€ (not including utility bills, but it would amount to approximately 930€ per month) for a 20m2 (approx 210 sq ft) with my beloved washing machine and convection oven, and also four metro stops away from school.

Securing the apartment, though, is difficult. I wanted to make sure that the person I was communicating with was the “real deal.” I asked one of my friends to see if she could check out the apartment for me, and circumstances didn’t allow so, but she did manage to chat with my future landlord over the phone and told me that my landlord was more wary of me than I was of her. I hadn’t realized that she could communicate in English, and was attempting to write in my two-year old style grammar. In either case, there were several phone conversations that followed, one between her cousin and I (my landlord went on vacation to Los Angeles for the month of June), and finally, between her and I.

My only gripes about the apartment is that the kitchen is too integrated with the apartment (I usually had a door or more space separating the living space from the kitchen) and that there doesn’t seem to be a lot of storage for my equipment. But with that said, I could probably buy a small table for my spices and another to put a dishing rack on. Aside from that, I’m quite content with this apartment and am quite in love with it. That, and it’s always good to know that I’m not homeless in a foreign city!