Being an engineer abroad isn’t much different from being an engineer at Columbia:  you’ll still have more class that your liberal arts peers, your homework and tests will still be harder, and you’ll still make jokes about the students in your university’s equivalent of Columbia College.  However, as an engineering study abroad student, you may feel a bigger rift between yourself and the other study abroad students you know:  more likely than not, you’ll be taking quite a few classes that matter and count for your major, whereas many other study abroad students may be taking classes for fun and whose credits they don’t necessarily need to graduate.

When I was in Sydney, there was definitely a big group of Americans who had class only a few days a week and who were able to approach their classes as trivial parts of their time abroad.  I, on the other hand, had assignments, midterms, and class five days a week.  Even though I had less work than I would have had at Columbia, I still had more than many of the other study abroad students.  If I had spent most of my time with the study abroad students who never had class or work, it would have been very difficult to motivate myself to go to class, let alone do work.  Instead, I found friends in my classes with whom to do assignments and study for midterms.  In addition, having a few friendly faces who I knew I could sit with in my large lectures definitely helped motivate me to go to class, especially on 9 a.m. every Friday morning!

By Claire Duvallet, Peer Advisor, [email protected]