Tamara Smith: Living Abroad


Working and studying abroad is one of the greatest decisions you can make in your life. The amount of people you meet and experiences you gain are invaluable and most importantly fun. I may not have always loved it and there were definitely many difficult times but those are the things that help you grow and learn.

I originally wasn’t sure if I wanted to do the program at Disney because it wasn’t the most culturally different study abroad and I didn’t know if it would be worth it. I did more research for the program and saw that I would be working and living with people from all around the world and I did end up learning a lot about how other cultures live and work.
 
 

Another great perk to studying abroad and the people you meet is that if you plan to travel in the future you have free accommodation around the world! Since being home, a friend from Spain has already visited Vancouver and I plan on going to Australia later this year to visit friends and travel. I also picked up a couple phrases in different languages and small interesting cultural differences.

 

While I was abroad not everything was perfect and fun, there were a couple things that happened back home that made me incredibly homesick, whether they were bad things or I just felt like I was missing out on a get together with friends. While this was hard, I know that powering through it made me a stronger person.

Studying abroad is a great way to spend part of your college years and learn some valuable tools, not only academically but the greatest and most important thing is the people you meet (both good and bad).

Tamara Smith is a second year Tourism Co-op student who just completed a semester studying and working abroad in Disneyland, Orlando as part of the University of California, Riverside's Disney International Program
 

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