I'm going to give some advice to those of you who are thinking you want to do an NSE program. The best advice I could give is to always be very prepared. It’s okay if you're very controlling, like you have to control every movement and whatever, but you should also be very prepared for surprises and unexpected surprises. Just be very prepared. Have everything planned beforehand and it's always good for you to have open contact with the host school before you get there. I was emailing my coordinator very early on for Brandon University. Since last summer. I was doing it very early on because I had a lot of questions that I and needed to have everything done. Not perfectly, but you know, but I wanted no surprises.
Always research where you're going. In my case, I was going to Canada during winter season, so I needed to get winter gear and I needed to get a huge suitcase, which I'm having problems with it's really heavy. There's not much I can do about that. Check about passports, on where you're going, like it could be to Canada, United States or Puerto Rico or whatever like that. If I had an NSE program to the United States, I wouldn't have needed a passport, only my license. If you're studying for more than six months, you have to get a permit.
Something that I should have done is pack lightly. I took a lot of stuff and I packed things that weren't necessary. At the time I thought it would be because I'd rather have it and not needed and then then need and not have it. But in reality, I brought stuff that I did not use. Now it's a problem because I bought more stuff as well. I've been here for five months so obviously you're going to buy lots of stuff. But that was not the best plan. So, pack lightly.
If you're someone that is really close to people back home, you'll get homesick. Bring pictures, bring memorabilia. I have my BTS posters and photos of my friends, photos from concerts, stuff like that. It’s a little messy, but I have photos of my friends and little notes of things I have to do. So, that's always very good to have.
Mariana