The valuable life skills you acquire from studying abroad are put into practice long before you arrive in your host country. They are called upon as soon as you begin investigating your study abroad options. Your Learning Abroad Center advisers are available to guide you along the process of selecting and applying for your program, and the process of preparing for departure. However, we rely on you to do your part by being mindful of the following expectations we have of you:

• Carefully read and save ALL the emails and materials we and our partners provide you. In most cases, the answers can easily be found in a past email correspondence, a program handbook, or on our web site. Consider creating a special study abroad folder in your email account to file away important emails that you may need to retrieve later.

• Although we can suggest resources and highlight certain programs, the decision is ultimately yours to make. Oftentimes this will require a significant amount of research on your part, and multiple meetings with your academic advisers to identify the best learning abroad program match for you.

• Work directly with our office whenever possible, and resist recruiting or allowing your parents to take care of matters for you. After all, you are the one who is studying abroad, not your parents! You can navigate the University of Minnesota systems better than they can, and in many cases we are not at liberty to share information with them about your situation out of respect for federal privacy restrictions.

• Practice pro-active information-seeking. Voice your concerns to program staff well in advance, instead of waiting for us to anticipate all your individual needs and questions. If after having reviewed your program materials and emails, and you still can't find the answers to your questions, don't hesitate to ask.

All these pre-departure responsibilities are designed to help you exercise the independent problem-solving skills that you will need to rely heavily upon once you are overseas, as well as to cope with challenges of the real world long after you graduate.

Sometimes your questions won't be answered directly, but instead you'll be referred to a web site or email. Consider this good practice in using resources available to you to find answers, handling ambiguous situations and deciphering indirect communication, all of which you'll likely encounter abroad. You'll be proud of what you can accomplish on your own when you are there, and will surprise yourself with the numerous opportunities for personal, professional and academic growth during your study abroad experience.

Last modified on May 16, 2008