What to do if your friends are studying abroad!
Hello all,
My junior year is going very well so far. I love all of my classes and I feel like I am being as involved as I can. I feel like have been managing my time efficiently. However, the one problem I have been having is making time to catch up with my friends who are currently studying abroad. I have Skype, whatsapp, Facebook and every form of social media ; however it is still difficult to make time to talk to my friends because of the differences in time zone. I have a friend in Paris, a friend in BRIC, and I even have a friend in Jordan. I know many people at Babson are facing the same dilemma; so I have made a few initiatives that I will follow and hopefully if you are reading this blog and are in the same situation; you may benefit as well.
1. Schedule time into your calendar
This may not always work out because even if we make a schedule ; we may not follow it. Try setting an alarm so that it will be more visible.
2.Post on Facebook or Twitter
Even if you are not available to speak to your friend , try posting on their wall or tagging them in a status update to show that you miss them. This will go a long way
3. Send a letter/gift
Sometimes things mean more to people when you take the effort to write a handwritten note. Although we can always email and call; letters show a lot of effort.
4.You may have to wake up early 🙁
Depending on where your friend is staying; sometimes you will have to wake up during your sleep to vide chat or call them Make sure if you have to do this you still maintain energy and show them you are excited to see them.
5. Video
If your friend is feeling homesick; make them a kind video with their friends.
6. Smile
When friends call you while abroad they want to share their fun experiences and they also want to see that you’re having fun to; so make sure you have genuine smiles and try not to make them feel bad for not being with you.
P.S ; I added their locations to my weather app; so that I can better manage the time differences
Next semester I will be in a new program in San Francisco BUS:SF. Hopefully , when my friends are back on campus they will make time for me.