If life gives you Lemons...

… you might suddenly have me, CoCo Lemon in your life. No need for lemonade now. Right? I just want you to know that I am a – sometimes sarcastic – optimist. Usually my mantra is ‘everything will work out’ (especially when you work really hard for it). People keep telling me the same thing. When I am talking to my parents, my brothers, my friends, my colleagues, my teachers – it seems as though they have united and they are the ones who have faith. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
What I intend to write about is not limited to Salzburg. It’s supposed to be about the painful application process for an exchange year – wherever. It is not surprising that many students give up along the way. I actually started my application process about one and a half years ago… and an end is still not in sight. The first thing to remember is that the application is long and time-consuming. There are many questions that you need to answer before you can get started: Where do I want to go? How long do I think I want to go there for? At which point during my studies would it be most beneficial? Once you have answered these questions you should start collecting information about programs, universities, financial aid – to name but a few things. At this point you will have already mastered about one hundredth of the way. Just to keep things in perspective.
Next step: talk to colleagues (who have been abroad or want to go as well) and professors, and try to locate the coordinators for the different programs and universities. Visit the websites of the universities you are interested in. Another ingenious idea I don’t mind sharing with you: change your desktop background to a picture of the University of Your Choice! Very subtle, I know. (It is easier to stay focused that way, believe me.) While researching universities, try to find an old CV you might still have saved somewhere on your computer. You will need it. And start thinking about what is so great about yourself. Not to boost your self-confidence but to convince the ones who decide whether and where you will end up that you are the best candidate. If I remember correctly, it took me approximately six months to get to this point. I finally knew where I wanted to go, when, and for how long. Since I was pretty satisfied with my grades and the progress of my studies, I thought I was heading in the right direction. Well, at least then I thought I was. And then life gave me lemons…
Yours truly,
CoCo Lemon