Today we are going to talk about the necessary habits of successful students planning to study abroad. I wish someone told me about those habits when I first went to study abroad in 2016. I would be hella excited if this article existed back then! But it didn’t, so I’m writing one now especially for you. 😉

Habit #1. Treat the people around you with respect

The first habit of a successful student should be his or her ability to treat people around with respect. When you come to school or university to study abroad, you’ll notice that people act a little different from where you came from. Perhaps the teaching methods are contrasting to what you experienced back home or the way students address teachers feels a bit strange to you. 

In that situation you might feel the want to be opposed to these views and behaviors, feeling like everyone around you is doing something wrong. That will be an unproductive and unhealthy decision. Remember, a successful student comes here to learn new things. Repeat that phrase to yourself from day to day. 

It doesn’t matter who is right, you are just here to experience and try new stuff, and that’s all, folks. No need to get angsty and peckish, and disagree with everything around you like a little emo girl (by the way, no offense to emo-people, love you lots, used to be like one myself lol).

Habit #2. Be sociable (or at least talk to people)

Your success in studying abroad largely depends on the people with whom you surround yourself. I know that many people have trouble looking for friends. And that’s a major question. And to be honest, some people don’t even want to find new friends and are trying to focus more on hobbies or sports, to say. And that’s fine. But trust me, when you go back, you’ll regret you didn’t actually bond with anybody you met while studying abroad. 

I’m not saying that you should just because “it’s cool to have friends from overseas”. It’s not because you can say “Oh, I have that friend from Brazil” and then brag about them to your friends at home. No. Moreover, I’m not even saying that this imaginary Brazilian girl or boy is better than any of the friends you have at home. But what is true about people that come from other countries is that sometimes they can give you a different perspective. 

When I went to study abroad I had no clue that it’s rude among Norwegians to admit that they’re good at something, but I learned it as I was talking more to people from Norway. It was immediately explained to me why my Norwegian roommate is mediocre at basketball, when I first asked her about it, although she totally slew it in the school match. And my other roommate who was from China told me all about their celebrations of Chinese New Year. Again, it’s up to you whether you want to get into these things, but try to be sure that you won’t regret missing out on it later in case you don’t.

Habit #3. Staying in touch with your family

You not only need to do it because they worry about you and it’s the human thing to do. When you first move out and begin a new life you can get that rush of sudden euphoria and you can start to lose track of things that are important. Successful students studying abroad don’t do that! 😎

Your parents (or friends) most likely know what you were like before you’ve gone to study abroad. They know exactly what were your dreams and what was good for you and what was bad. From the distance, they see things more clearly and can tell you if you’re taking too much work or otherwise treating things too lightly, whether you look happier than before or more stressed and so on. That kind of outer analysis sometimes can be very helpful.

Habit#4. Remember your goals

When you decided to go study abroad, why did you decide it? What made you quit your original school, leave the people who cared about you behind in order to take a long flight to some unknown place? Did you want to get good grades and obtain a diploma from a reputable university? Or there was some other reason?

If you came to study, you must be studying. Looking for a location to study, discussing courses and getting to live in a dorm is exciting, sure. But don’t let yourself be carried away. If you came to study – do it. Otherwise, what was it all for?

Habit #5. Discipline

Organization, time management, and discipline mean half of the success for a student studying abroad. Breaking into an independent life, it’s important to be able to limit this suddenly appeared freedom in order not to become estranged from the main goal.

To do this, clearly state your long term goals, and then divide this long track into mini-plans. Yes, what did you expect, can you swallow a whole pineapple? Of course, you can’t! You have to cut it into small pieces! Same it works with your plan.

Define your main goal, priorities, determine time for doing homework. What’s important, don’t forget about your limited leisure time, entertainment, meeting with friends. The main thing is to achieve the goal with a reasonable approach and keep everything remained under your control!

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If you have any other advice to newbies going to study abroad for the first time, – share it with me! If not, I’m just going to remind you to keep studying and exploring the world with aplic.io✈️. If you’re planning to study abroad, you won’t find a path than with an Aplic.io. We have thousands of programs for all tastes. Sending love to everybody and twice as much love to those who kept reading this thing to the end 💫😄.