visas, visas, visas

or I guess I could say Travisa, Travisa, Travisa.

SAS uses Travisa to help complete all the visa applications for students.  And yes, they do likely price inflate.  I was a little shocked when I totaled the cost of getting just three visas – $800 approximately.  Ugh, more money toward semester at sea.  Good thing I have been saving since 7th grade for this.  Anyway, because I work full-time, I didn’t really have time to go to the consulates and apply in person for the visas I need, so I had to take the hit monetarily – about $160 extra- and go with the visa service.   Benefit of working too much, is a bit of additional cash to cover that cost.

That still did make me a bit angry at first, but I guess I will get over it when I enjoy a lovely time in each of those countries.  And actually, I don’t have to get that many visas.  Just Russia, Ghana, and Brazil.  Travisa also makes it very easy to fill everything out because they have a custom SAS page for all upcoming voyages.  There are a large amount of instructions, but if you follow them exactly, you’ll be fine.

Actually I totally messed up my Russian visa. Twice.  How’s that for good at following direction?  First, I put a PO box down as my permanent address, which I guess is not okay according to Russia because humans cannot actually reside in post office boxes… who knew?  Then after overnighting a new application, I had checked off boxes in pen that were supposed to be selected on the pdf and printed off.  No handwriting on Russian visa applications allowed! After a third phone-call conversation with a Travisa agent, I resubmitted my application, correct address and no handwriting.  Woohoo.  Hopefully it still gets finished in time because I sent my passport in with my applications, so traveling to London will be difficult if I don’t have that.  But it is nice to know that there are people double-checking everything about my applications, which maybe makes the extra cost a bit worth it.

Glad I sent my visa applications in early because that gave me time to mess things up twice and hopefully still have everything turn out all right. (I guess we will see about that)

I could have done the applications myself, but again, I would have had to go to at least two of the consulates in person and gotten a few more original documents – proof of insurance, proof of “invitation” to Russia (yes, you actually need one), etc. – there were just not enough hours in the day and I was honestly too nervous of screwing it up and then not being able to get off the ship at those countries.

So now, Travisa, my fate is in your trusty hands.

where are you going to study abroad? everywhere.

A question I have gotten a fair bit is why SAS? How did I find out about it?  What are applications like?

As I still have a number of weeks before I set off on this adventure, I figured I’d start by talking about the application process and my planning, hopefully some other students in the future can use this as a resource.  (bear in mind this is only one girl’s opinion)

I picked SAS because I am indecisive.  To be more specific, I simply could not pick a single country in which I knew for certain I wanted to live for 6 months.  I was fortunate enough to study abroad in high school junior year and I went to a lovely small town in Spain.  I could talk about my experiences in Spain forever, so we will save that for another day.  Coming into college and beginning to plan out my four years, I found myself spending hours daydreaming about various international programs.  One day I would be certain I was going to Jordan and I’d start adding Arabic I to my class plan.  Then I would be researching the South American immersion programs and figuring out if I could minor in Spanish and still graduate on time.  I knew wherever I went would be amazing, but I could not hone in on a single program that stood out above the rest.

That was until one day I found myself on the Semester at Sea website, researching which voyage would take me to the most countries I had not visited.  Fall 2014 was The One.  Eastern Africa, Russia, Brazil, Cuba.  I was on that site everyday, looking at course options, scholarship opportunities, deadlines, field programs.  I could not stop talking about Semester as Sea.  Sitting in a programming class, pinning to a semester at sea pinterest board I had created to see all the places I could go, I realized this was something I simply had to do.  I would never be this uncommitted or this free again in my life.  I have no 60+ hour a week job, no real dependents (no serious relationship and certainly no children), no incredibly pressing tasks or responsibilities (not that my clubs and extracurriculars aren’t important to me).

In the future, when I reflect on my college career, I know I won’t be able to distinguish exact nights I spent cramming for some oppressively difficult coding assignment or a really fun day tailgating for a football game, but I definitely will remember the semester I spent living on a cruise ship.  I love my friends at school and I will certainly miss them, but I know I would regret putting this decision off for all of my school commitments for the rest of my life.  This is a dream that if postponed would never occur.  In no other time during my short 20 years has the phrase “carpe diem” felt exactly applicable. SAS Fall 2014 about to be a dream come true.

Then came the planning.

-Meet with my counselor to discuss matriculation, course credit, plan out my major classes and graduating on time

– Figure out which scholarships I could apply for

– Consider housing choices for Spring semester

– Start determining how much money I needed to save

– Begin writing my application – forms here

Applications include: personal info, academic info, demographic info, family info,

300-500 word essay on:

How will your Semester at Sea voyage create (or enhance) your personal global perspective? Highlight your discussion by referencing at least one country on your itinerary and by explaining how your time there will further develop your awareness.

or

What are your academic goals, and how will Semester at Sea help you to you achieve them? Include at least two examples.

It was not that rigorous – relative to the college application process, but I did spend some time working on it and mulling over the essay.  They also require you to submit a Disciplinary Clearance Form and an Undergraduate Transcript.

Around two weeks later I got my response: YES, YES, YES!! Then it was time to begin scholarships, more on that later.

I applied around December for the following fall, but I know people who applied earlier and later as well.  This mostly depended on if their school’s international study office allowed semester at sea and had a separate application.  Anyway, that in a nutshell is how I decided to go on SAS.  Back to the summer job grind. xoxo

Hello World

In Computer Science, we call the most basic program, usually the first one someone writes, a “hello world.”  Thus, I find it only fitting I title my first post the same.  

The first post seems like it should be important, but also an introduction.  So, quite predictably, here I will overview everything.  Although I apologize if I leave something out, I guess we will just learn as we go. 

First: I am Paige.  More on that here.  I went skydiving yesterday and this is my friend Taylor (right) and I minutes before the jump. (The cone helmets are a great look by the way)

Second: I am doing Semester at Sea this Fall – 2014.  To those of you unfamiliar with the program, you can read more here.

Third: My voyage is Atlantic Exploration. 

• Saint Petersburg, Russia
• Gdansk, Poland
• Rostock, Germany 
• Antwerp, Belgium 
• Le Havre, France 
• Dublin, Ireland
• Lisbon, Portugal 
• Cadiz, Spain 
• Casablanca, Morocco
• Dakar, Senegal
• Takoradi, Ghana 
• Tema (Accra), Ghana 
• Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 
• Salvador, Brazil 
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Havana, Cuba

Fourth: I will explain more about preparation, paperwork, applications, etc in future posts and eventually talk about all of these countries when I am actually there! (still cannot believe this is real)

I am so excited to see where this goes and thanks for reading 🙂