I Chose a Year Abroad on a Whim - It Ended Up Changing My Life

A year abroad was something I always wanted to do, but for a long time, it was a vague, exciting, faraway concept that I didn’t need to think too hard about yet. When applications rolled around at the start of second year, I was deep in essay crisis mode, and the last thing I wanted to do was write my personal statement. I got my act together and sent off two applications: one for the University of Amsterdam, a place that I had thoroughly researched and thought about, and the other for McGill University, a choice made completely on a whim because “the mountains in Canada look pretty cool”. And, you guessed it, I got an offer for McGill University.

If I’m being honest, my research did not go much further than its very poor initial stages. I told my family and friends that I wanted to go, found student accommodation, applied for a visa, waited a very (very) long time for a visa, then flew to Montreal. The start of my year abroad was, in a word, disorientating. Walking through the blistering August heat (I thought Canada was cold?), stumbling through a coffee order with my bad French, and trying desperately to make friends. I did, at the start, wonder if I’d made a mistake by leaving the comfort of my Edinburgh life. It wasn’t easy, but step by step, I started to build my new life in Canada.

By second semester, I was writing for the McGill Daily, going on trips with the Outdoors Club, and throwing myself into my courses. With smaller classes, and professors careful to learn everyone’s name, I found a new passion for my degree that I hadn’t felt in a long time. Despite the minus degree temperatures every day, the thoughts of “I want to go home” turned into “I never want to leave”.

From canoe camping for the first time, to working on a farm in Vancouver Island after exam season, my Year Abroad has given me experiences and friendships that I will never forget. Now, I have an excuse to travel all over the world to visit everyone I have met this year. To anyone considering a Year Abroad, I say go for it. It won’t be easy, but you won’t regret it.