Survival Guide for Studying Abroad

I know, I haven't even started with my study. But I attended Studienkolleg for 2 semesters so I gathered some points for you based on my personal experience at Studienkolleg.

For your information, you who don't know how the German educational system works, here is some explanations:

The Studienkolleg is a public educational institution in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for students whose graduation certificate is not recognized as equivalent to the Abitur (high school level). It is a preparatory course for academic study at university.

Any foreigner who wants to study at german university has to study in Studienkolleg first. Here we are learning some stuffs like the other germans students when they are in high school. The purpose of this studienkolleg is to evaluate our school achievement at our own country, if it's good enough to study here. After 2 semesters of study we will face the Feststellungsprüfung (FSP), which is at the same level of the final examination of german high school students (Abitur). Basically when we passed the exam, then we can start to study here.

For me my time in studienkolleg is so precious. I had a lot of fun and I met a lot of new friends from other country. There we get to know so many culture with its own unique characters. The best part is: it feels like we go back to high school!

These are some tips and tricks to survive and also live your college life in abroad to the fullest.

Do not limit your friendship range based on nationality

How To Quit A Habit

Lately I've been successfully quiting some bad habits of mine and I'm really glad I did. What habit?

Well, if you ask my high school or studienkolleg friends, they would probably tell you that I'm a hardcire fan of Kpop. Let me tell you this, it was an addiction that I even wonder if I need a miracle to stop the addiction. But no! I don't think I received any miracle for this case.

So how to do it?

Tell your friends, or even announce it

It may sound cliche but you do need friends to support you quiting your bad habit. Let them know your intention, believe me, they will be a great help for you when you're at your lowest point, when you nearly give up. It will be also a self reminder for you. After declaring your plan to so many people, your self esteem will force you to stick to the plan.

Toss those stuffs away

When your habit is about a certain thing that you can't get rid of, you have to force yourself to throw it all away. Remember, nothing remains! We as humans can actually adapt so well with our circumstances. So if you're forced to live without it, you'll adapt no matter what!

In my case I deleted all Kpop songs on my phone and laptop. Songs, videos, pictures,movies and even my youtube and facebook subscriptions. If you want to quit smoking, throw all your cigarettes in the trash bin and don't leave a single cent for buying a new one. If you are a shopaholic, break your credit card into pieces! It will be so frustrating at first, but you need to be strong and carry on. Your friends will make sure you're not looking back.

Find a replacement

Quiting one habit means you have an empty slot in your life. Somehow you have to find something to fill that hole, to prevent the old thing from coming back. The substitution doesn't have to be your new habit. You need it just until you're fully adapted living without your old habit. Don't worry, it won't be hard to break a temporal habit. A habit you get in a short time doesn't take long to break it.

When I quit my job as a kpop fan I felt a little empty without watching dramas or listening to kpop songs. Then I decided to try watching american tv series, and I have to say, living without kpop is not that bad! Sometimes we have to go outside and have a taste of the grass on the other side.

You want to stop drinking coffee?  Then find something else to drink -something healthier of course- for instance try to drink tea instead. Watch out the amount you're going to take, less is better, to prevent another habit coming into existence.

No compromising

You have to be harsh to yourself to quit a habit perfectly. There's no giving up. It may feel extremely hard and takes ages to completely break your habit, but you need time. In the course of time your brain will slowly forget the certain path you had been walking on. Patience, that's the big thing.