Yes, you Americans CAN study abroad! No Excuses

This blog post is directed to the Americans out there who want to study abroad but say to themselves: "I can't, it is too expensive.."

I am here to explain to you why you can and you should do it and do it while you are still in college!

So you are studying and taking out financial aid to pay your studies. Who isn't?

Did you know that the loans that the government grants you while you are in college are the best and most cheapest loans that you will ever get in your life? Seriously the interest rate is rock bottom and they are extremely flexible with their payment plans.

Did you know that if you wander into your study abroad office they will explain to you that you can take out extra financial aid to cover the costs of spending money, flights, and whatever you may need while abroad? Basically, if you school costs 10,000$ a year, well the year you go abroad maybe it costs 16,000$. BUT YOU GET IT IN FINANCIAL AID!

Why should you do it????

1 - This is a ONCE in a life time opportunity to spend a long amount of time abroad. When you graduate college and get a job, do you see yourself taking a 1 year vacation? How are you going to pay for that? Take it from me, if you dont do it now… you wont!

2 - It is the best and cheapest loan possible, and by this I mean that it is totally worth it. Speaking from experience, I took out a loan for the full cost of my year abroad. I got my plane tickets and even spending money that was deposited into my account every 3 months. Then, right before graduating college I took out another 3.000 loan to come to Spain again to "sink or swim". I swam, and I am still here! What about my debt? I have none! I paid everything off already. As I mentioned, the interest is low, so low that it took me awhile to pay it off because my investments were making more interest then my loans were costing me. Basically, it was worth it for me to maintain my debt. When the economy tanked I paid it off: )

3 - You may say "My major is not Spanish and I don't want to graduate a year late" I can tell you, yes, this is from PERSONAL experience, that one more year of college is something that you will never ever regret. I was an International Affairs major and spent the best year of my life abroad learning Spanish. When I got back I only needed 3 more classes to get the second major in Spanish.. so now I have two. The year abroad was the best year of my life, and trust me, you have PLENTY of time to work. You are going to work the rest of your life. You will not remember an extra year of studies, but you will remember not going abroad and following your dreams!

4 - THINK about what you gain!!!! I can personally assure you that when I got home I got more than one interviews and more than 2 just because I put on my resume that I spoke Spanish. There are more than 35 million Spanish speakers in the USA! You want your resume to stand out? I can almost guarantee you that one year abroad and some nice Spanish skills will help you out a lot more than you can possibly imagine.

So yes, you can study abroad. MONEY is not an excuse, TIME is not an excuse. There are more benefits than you can imagine. And seriously, if you dont do it now you most likely never will! I mean seriously? Who can take a year off of work and afford to live abroad for a year? Do you know anyone? I only know students….

Dont miss this. Go wherever you may go… it is worth it!

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck!