Retrospect: Mental Health Abroad

Your health is an important consideration when it comes to studying abroad! You may be considering
studying abroad but unsure how your mental health will come into play. Allow me to share with you
some of my experiences that will hopefully inspire you with confidence towards studying abroad!

Full disclosure, I have general anxiety and depression. I have used UCSD's CAPS services and I was
required to get a signature from my CAPS therapist as a part of my health waiver in the study abroad
application process. The process required some paperwork and back and forth through the student
health services portal, but overall was not difficult to complete. For those of you who may have used
CAPS services long ago, I also had not used CAPS for half a year. I still got a signature from my CAPS
therapist with no problem, and I was not asked to make a new appointment. We all know how hard it
can be to get an appointment last minute, and I hope it helps you to know that you will not need to try
to squeeze that extra hour just to get a signature from your service provider.

While for most traveling is a relaxing activity, I often find myself over planning my travels to try to get
the most out of everything. If you’re like me, you’d find yourself overwhelmed at the end of the trip.
Now add finals to the mix… oh boy. I recommend managing your expectations for your travels. Find
out your class schedule first and figure out when you get days off. Pick a few top choice destinations,
then consider your time and, most importantly, your budget. These should be places you would strongly
regret not having visited. For class days, I would look for locations I could study at or relax on my own.
My roommates and I often went to the nearby library to study for our quizzes, the library was huge and
fun to explore after studying. Library etiquette was also very different from Geisel, and I felt like a learned
scholar pouring over my assigned reading in the huge, cold, and generously carpeted reading room. I
also found a few parks and gardens that were very peaceful and calming. I would go alone or with friends,
just to eat a snack or observe city life. These activities may feel mundane and typical of your student life
here in San Diego, but incorporating them into your plans in a new locale can be one way for you to
combine your study habits with your travel ambitions.

When the going gets rough and conflict arises, I was able to easily turn to our program’s partner agency
CEA Study Abroad coordinator for guidance. In our case, our roommates had a tough decision to make
regarding our apartment and it was pitting us against each other. Tensions were high and I was worried
this would taint our experience. We turned to the agency’s coordinator for advice and he ended up
counseling us through our decision making process. We left the building that day cracking inside jokes
and looking for the nearest ice cream place. Normally when you have a roommate disagreement you
might have to live with it for the whole school year, especially if you get a random roommate assignment.
I believe part of what helped us was the understanding that our trip was only five weeks.

Focusing on medication: if you have any, make sure you have enough and that it’s not an illegal
substance in your destination country. It was not an issue in my case, but I recommend looking it up just
to be safe. I understand that it’s not easy to switch drugs just for the month away, but getting caught with
contraband can be a serious crime and you should definitely not risk your life for that. Feel free to discuss
with your care provider about your travel to make sure you don’t forget anything. You can even request
your prescription papers just in case someone asks for it. I was never asked for anything, but better safe
than sorry!

Traveling abroad, even with your professor and an assigned agency, you are still taking yourself outside
of your comfort zone. If you ever feel like you are out of control or maladjusting to your new environment,
ask your professor for a staff member to speak to. They see hundreds of students every summer and are
equipped to advise you. Don’t forget to stay in touch with supportive friends and family back home so that
you don’t get disconnected!

Personally, this trip helped me rethink how I balance work and play. Being away from UCSD where I have
continuously attended classes throughout the whole year for two years straight helped me get rid of some
bad time management habits and I felt ‘unstuck’. Coming home was hard at first because it was a familiar
environment and old habits came back. I started to feel stuck again, but thinking about my experience
studying abroad helps me put my life here in perspective. Studying abroad has shown me that as long as
you plan sufficiently you can go anywhere you like, that I am not stuck but choosing to be here. The days
when I feel down or unmotivated I look back on my summer days in Paris, it helps to reinvigorate me to
work towards a future of my choice.