Manda's Study Abroad Adventure!
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In 2017, I decided to take two pretty big steps: traveling out of the country for the first time and enrolling in college for the first time in ten years. A year later, I now have the opportunity to combine those two loves and travel back to Romania to intern at a music studio as a part of my program at Madison College, which I am extremely excited about. I take off for Bucharest at the beginning of June and won't return until August, so I'll be living abroad for two months!
School, Study Abroad, & What I'll Be Learning
I am currently enrolled in a two year program to get my Associates in Marketing, which I've been really enjoying. As a part of the Marketing program, it's suggested to spend a semester doing an internship in the marketing field. Since I love music and hope to work in International Marketing in particular, I was able to set up an awesome opportunity with friends in Bucharest, Romania to fulfill this need. I'll be learning about promoting new music, social media marketing, merchandise sales, and more.
Additionally, this study abroad opportunity qualifies as a part of the Interdisciplinary Global Studies Certificate at my school, which is an additional program that focuses on a curriculum that includes courses such as foreign languages, international relations, global politics, and more.
Where The Money Goes
While I will be receiving a portion of grant money this summer to cover expenses, I have several pre-trip expenses I need to cover and my grant money will not available until I have already been in Romania for several weeks, which means I cannot use it for the things that need paying for before I leave. Yikes!
The most important expenses are a $200 study abroad fee I must pay to the school, which includes health insurance while I am abroad, renewing my student travel insurance, and the textbook expenses for the classes I will be taking online while I am abroad. Typically I could charge these textbooks to the school store, but I will be out of the country during the book charge period so I will need to buy them before I leave. I also need to purchase extended supplies of some of my daily medications and my migraine medication so that I can avoid getting sick or being miserable , and I typically would not purchase these more than once a month.
I also would really like to purchase a new laptop for use in my classes while I travel. I currently have a very old, very heavy laptop that can run things like Photoshop which I need for my marketing classes...and a very light laptop that is great for browsing the internet, but not so great for completing projects. If I could get a new, modern, lightweight laptop that can handle graphic design projects it would make this trip a lot easier!
Any additional funds raised will go toward ordering currency in advance so that I have cash as soon as I arrive, and also toward purchasing my husband a plane ticket so that he can come visit toward the end of my internship. This will be the longest we've been apart since we started dating in 2010, so it will be really great to have him there with me for part of my time away!
In my total I have also factored in extra funds to accommodate GoFundMe's fees and charges that come with using their service.
Before You Go...
I've been looking forward to this trip so much, and while I am attempting to make things work before I go having some extra money to relieve some of my stress would make things so much easier, especially if I am able to raise enough to purchase a new laptop. I am extremely passionate about the marketing field and have been really enjoying returning to school -- I have been on the Dean's List for two consecutive semesters (once with high honors) and look to be on the Dean's List for a third semester, and as well I have earned a spot in the Phi Theta Kappa honor society for my exemplary academic achievement. Study abroad opportunities and internships look great for transferring to four year schools (which I hope to do!) and for applying to jobs, and even though I'm doing this a little later than many folks I am still extremely proud that I've reached this point and can't wait to see what happens next.
Thank you in advance if you're able to chip in a dollar or a few, or if you shared this with a friend. I'll be sure to share lots of photos and stories of my time away (and eat lots of papanasi for you, too!)
School, Study Abroad, & What I'll Be Learning
I am currently enrolled in a two year program to get my Associates in Marketing, which I've been really enjoying. As a part of the Marketing program, it's suggested to spend a semester doing an internship in the marketing field. Since I love music and hope to work in International Marketing in particular, I was able to set up an awesome opportunity with friends in Bucharest, Romania to fulfill this need. I'll be learning about promoting new music, social media marketing, merchandise sales, and more.
Additionally, this study abroad opportunity qualifies as a part of the Interdisciplinary Global Studies Certificate at my school, which is an additional program that focuses on a curriculum that includes courses such as foreign languages, international relations, global politics, and more.
Where The Money Goes
While I will be receiving a portion of grant money this summer to cover expenses, I have several pre-trip expenses I need to cover and my grant money will not available until I have already been in Romania for several weeks, which means I cannot use it for the things that need paying for before I leave. Yikes!
The most important expenses are a $200 study abroad fee I must pay to the school, which includes health insurance while I am abroad, renewing my student travel insurance, and the textbook expenses for the classes I will be taking online while I am abroad. Typically I could charge these textbooks to the school store, but I will be out of the country during the book charge period so I will need to buy them before I leave. I also need to purchase extended supplies of some of my daily medications and my migraine medication so that I can avoid getting sick or being miserable , and I typically would not purchase these more than once a month.
I also would really like to purchase a new laptop for use in my classes while I travel. I currently have a very old, very heavy laptop that can run things like Photoshop which I need for my marketing classes...and a very light laptop that is great for browsing the internet, but not so great for completing projects. If I could get a new, modern, lightweight laptop that can handle graphic design projects it would make this trip a lot easier!
Any additional funds raised will go toward ordering currency in advance so that I have cash as soon as I arrive, and also toward purchasing my husband a plane ticket so that he can come visit toward the end of my internship. This will be the longest we've been apart since we started dating in 2010, so it will be really great to have him there with me for part of my time away!
In my total I have also factored in extra funds to accommodate GoFundMe's fees and charges that come with using their service.
Before You Go...
I've been looking forward to this trip so much, and while I am attempting to make things work before I go having some extra money to relieve some of my stress would make things so much easier, especially if I am able to raise enough to purchase a new laptop. I am extremely passionate about the marketing field and have been really enjoying returning to school -- I have been on the Dean's List for two consecutive semesters (once with high honors) and look to be on the Dean's List for a third semester, and as well I have earned a spot in the Phi Theta Kappa honor society for my exemplary academic achievement. Study abroad opportunities and internships look great for transferring to four year schools (which I hope to do!) and for applying to jobs, and even though I'm doing this a little later than many folks I am still extremely proud that I've reached this point and can't wait to see what happens next.
Thank you in advance if you're able to chip in a dollar or a few, or if you shared this with a friend. I'll be sure to share lots of photos and stories of my time away (and eat lots of papanasi for you, too!)
Organizer
Manda Collis Peterson
Organizer
Fall River, WI
