PictureNYU Stern Pride at Machu Picchu, December 2013
If you only read one paragraph on this page, this should be the one. As a junior, I had a very big decision to make. I had to choose between getting an actuarial internship the summer between junior and senior year or spending a semester abroad in Australia (their semester starts in July) fall of senior year. I REALLY wanted to study abroad again, especially if it meant going to a completely different school for a semester (not just NYU in …) and I got mixed advice from everyone I asked. I ended up choosing to study abroad. Little did I know, this also meant I would be recruiting for a full-time position from Australia (Skype interviews at 2am are NOT fun). While not having an internship and not doing well in the Skype interviews made the job hunt more stressful when I came back to America, I still secured an offer by the time I graduated. Moral of the story - do not let work keep you from studying abroad. If I didn't choose to go to Australia, it would probably be my biggest regret right now. You only go to college once. After you graduate, you face the real world for the rest of your life. There will be no other point where you can put your life on hold to move to a different country for half a year without any worries. In the grand scheme of things, that internship you had between junior and senior year will be a blur down the road. The memories from studying abroad, however, will last a lifetime.

Travel defined my college experience. In fact, I don't think I will ever have a single conversation involving my university without including the word 'travel'. There are plenty of concepts that can be learned through textbooks and videos, but there is so much that can only fully be understood if you experience them firsthand. I believe every college student should travel abroad (not as a tourist), at least once, before they graduate.

As corny as it sounds, traveling will actually help you find yourself. You may think you like one thing or are capable of doing another, but once you touch down in a different country and spend time there, that changes. You experience another culture, another lifestyle, and soon, you lose an "outer layer" of your national thoughts and ideas, which is replaced by a layer containing thoughts and ideas from the country you are visiting. You should strive to be made up of many layers. And to do so, you must see the world, conquer your fears and travel.

Study Abroad...

Thanks to New York University and the Stern School of Business, I was able to study abroad at NYU in London for a semester, spend a week in Singapore for Stern's International Studies Program and study abroad for another semester at University of Melbourne through the International Business Exchange. If studying abroad wasn't as great as it was, I wouldn't have been gone for two semesters!
For more details on my experience at University of Melbourne and in Argentina, check out my blog: http://www.stephanieborowiec.com/blog. Future travel posts can also be found there.

Volunteer Abroad...

In 2011, I became involved with Habitat for Humanity and their global village program. My first time leaving America was on the Habitat for Humanity trip to Bali, Indonesia. In 2013, I joined my second Habitat for Humanity team to Bomet, Kenya. It was the most influential experience of my life. These experiences impacted me so much that, later that year, I did a third trip in Argentina.

With Habitat for Humanity, you can ensure you are with a great program. Many of the builds take place in rural areas; areas where you wouldn't be able to travel on your own. As a result, you are getting as immersed in the culture as you can get. I love how we are building side by side with the families, learning how they live, and learning who they are. It's also worth noting that Habitat for Humanity isn't just about going to countries and building houses for families in need. It's about bringing people together from different cultures and learning together. It's not just those on the Habitat for Humanity team who are learning. The people in the communities Habitat helps are learning, too. 

You do not need to have loads of cash to travel.

Use student loans, scholarships and part-time work to your advantage! If you can cut back on your cost of living, entertainment expenses and food expenses while at your home university, you can save a good portion of your income from work and your loan disbursement, using the remaining to either study abroad, volunteer abroad or even just backpack across foreign countries. 

While it's easy to think you can wait to travel and see the world once you have your student loans paid off, usually it's very difficult. After starting a career, it's hard to take extended time off to travel; not to mention settling down, being in a relationship and/or having kids. If you're being offered student loans anyway and are confident you will have a job when you graduate to make steady payments, now is the time to go see the world. Use your winter and summer breaks to your advantage - when you graduate, you won't have those again!

Fast facts...

Favorite Country Visited

Kenya has been my favorite country visited, by far. Kenyans are so grateful and nice, the landscape of the country is beautiful beyond words and watching the wildlife in the Maasai Mara reserve was extraordinary.

Hardest City to Navigate

Athens! It may have just been the map I was using, but all of the street names were extremely similar and there were tons of side streets. It was extremely nervewracking

Worst Hostel Experience

In Krakow, I stayed at Atlantis Hostel. While the hostel setup was fine, upon my arrival, I discovered I was placed in a 12 person room with 10 rowdy guys. All three mornings, they came in between 3am-4am belligerent and yelling. Lesson learned? ALWAYS have earplugs if you plan on staying in a multi-bed room at a hostel.

Personal Travel Tips...

  • Give yourself time to apply for a visa if needed - don't wait until last minute! And make sure if you have to pay, you read carefully and send the right form of payment!
  • Pack light! During my two week trip during spring break, I lived out of a small duffel bag. During my three week trip to South America, I lived out of a backpack. No one knows you've worn the same pants 5 times without washing them!
  • Don't feed (or bend down in front of) monkeys in Africa or Southeast Asia. They will ruin your lives.
  • If a person is supposed to pick you up from the airport in a foreign country and you can't find them, don't freak out. Keep doing circles trying to find the sign representing your organization, but look nonchalant. People take advantage of foreigners.
  • Don't get irritated if you get lost; it's a learning experience.
  • Live in the moment. Time in another country goes by 10x faster than in your home country.
  • Take it all in. Don't rush to get places, enjoy the journey! Choose a bus over a plane if possible - you'll meet the most amazing people!