Overcoming anxiety of studying overseas
GOING overseas to further one’s study can be both an exhilarating and daunting experience.
After working hard at school, passing your exams with flying colours and obtaining that letter of offer from a reputable university, your dream to fly off to a foreign land to pursue your higher education has finally come true.
You will start to think of how it will be like going for lectures, completing assignments, and if you will be confident enough to deliver a presentation in front of a room full of students of different nationalities.
Or if you will get to make new friends and backpack together to some exotic European destination during your term break.
Whatever the challenges, you tell yourself you are going to have fun throughout your studies and come home with a prestigious qualification.
Then the worries kick in – you will probably start to wonder how cold will the winters be, in say the United Kingdom, and if your accommodation will be warm enough.
Or if you can find your favourite Asian food in the shops near your accommodation and if you could bring in the sambal paste you can’t do without.
Then there is the worry of what you would do when you fall sick.
If you are confused or have received varying degrees of conflicting advice, worry no more, as the British Council will aim to have all your questions answered at a series of pre-departure briefings that it will be running.
These pre-departure briefings are targeted at students who have received an offer from a UK institution and are planning to start their studies in the 2018/19 academic year.
The briefings will provide you with practical information on visa applications, travel, student accommodation, banking, and more importantly, studying and living as an international student in the UK.
These events will also provide an opportunity for you to meet and network among other students who may be travelling to the same institution as you.
■ For details on British Council Malaysia’s pre-departure briefings, visit https://www.britishcouncil.my/study-uk/events-seminars/pre-departurebriefings