When you want to travel, but can only afford to travel to work...
Before my abroad trip I had been to exactly two states besides the one I lived in: Oregon and California. I had also been briefly to Canada to drop my sister off at the airport, but I am not counting that as travel. This is relevant because I had no experience flying or buying tickets. After my meeting with Allie, I began to look into the different programs offered by Wildlands to try and find one that might be more financially feasible for me. I began looking at the cost of round-trip tickets to Nepal, Thailand, and New Zealand (some of the programs I was most interested in) and quickly found out that the tickets were worth more than my car. This was a bit of a damper on my spirits. For students on financial aid (and in general), a $1500 plane ticket is no small thing. That is a few months rent, a quarter's food budget, 11,538 packets of Top Ramen, or in my case all of my savings. How could I justify signing up for a study abroad trip when just the plain ticket alone would set me back financially? I could, with much less effort and cost, stay at my university and keep my savings intact. This was my primary dilemma in deciding whether to apply to Wildlands. I knew I desperately wanted to go, and that I had a lot to gain from going, but I technically didn't need to go. I could take courses at my university and graduate without going abroad, making Wildlands a want. And financially, needs come before wants. 1. A word of advice to fellow students: don't rule out any option before talking to financial aid advisers. They are one of the most important resources for students, and they are not utilized nearly enough. I met with an adviser to see how much of my financial aid would apply towards a Wildlands Studies program. And here is where the major credit vs. elective credit distinction comes into play: Because I would be receiving credit relating directly to my field of study, more of my financial aid could be applied to the program than if I would be receiving elective credits only. This meant that the same amount of financial aid I was going to be receiving for a typical school quarter could go towards the program cost. My financial aid adviser also connected me to several scholarships that I could apply to for further help, namely the Gilman Scholarship. This was a major step forward in making Wildlands a possibility. 2. If you are a student with financial aid and want to pursue a study abroad program, talk with your financial and study abroad advisers to see what programs qualify for financial aid. At this point, I still didn't know how I was going to come up with half the program cost, but this meeting was encouragement enough for me to begin my application to Wildlands Studies. |