My Year Abroad

Where to start. My year abroad at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was truly the best year of my life. I have no regrets when I look back. I seized all of the opportunities that came my way, and really took advantage of being in such a great place. I wanted the all-round American college experience, and I sure got it. When I flew over to Illinois in mid-August 2011, I had no idea as to how amazing the next 10 months of my life would be.

Here is a summary of my year, and all of the things that I got to experience.

1. I met some really great people, a lot of whom I will remain in contact with and hopefully see again sometime in the future. I made best friends with some of the people who came to Illinois with me from my university in Nottingham, and also became really close with a rather large handful of Americans, too.

2. I joined a sorority - Chi Omega. The process of joining one is, quite simply, a very long and daunting experience, but worth it in the end to know that you joined the right house for you. It's not exactly like it is portrayed in the movies - the girls in my house were really genuine and not air heads; and the tradition of the house is very important and to be respected. Frats, however, are exactly like they are portrayed in the movies. I met some great girls through joining a sorority and feel very lucky to have joined Chi Omega, and to live in for my second semester.

3. I traveled. I didn't do a huge amount of it, but I did go to Daytona Beach and Minnesota for Thanksgiving break (opposite sides of the country, I know), I went to South Padre, Texas for Spring Break, and also visited Chicago a few times. I absolutely fell in love with Chicago... it is amazing.

4. I worked for College Fashion Week at my university. I was on the philanthropy and advertisement committee, as well as being the ambassador for my sorority house. This was a whole week of very hard but rewarding work, and I learnt so much about the fashion industry and gained much inspiration for the future. Being an ambassador for Chi Omega meant being the regulator of ticket sales and relaying information to the girls in my house. It also meant painting a banner to hang outside my house...

5. I got lucky and had the chance to walk on the catwalk in the main runway event of College Fashion Week. It was so much fun and I met some really cool people. I was even featured in our university's newspaper, the Daily Illini.

6. I was picked as 'Fashionista of the Week' for College Fashionista, an online college fashion website. This was cool because I got picked out due to the chance that I decided to dress-up a bit that day (I normally threw on a hoodie, jeans and flats). Pretty good for the self-esteem!

Link to the article: http://www.collegefashionista.com/school/view/university_of_illinois/style_advice_of_the_week_the_modern_equestrian

7. I worked for Her Campus Illinois as a News Editorial Intern. I think this might be one of my best achievements during the year.  I did not have any writing experience prior to this. It has opened a lot of doors for me, so I am forever grateful that I got the ball rolling by sending the email to them asking if they had any open positions. I did four articles in my time at HC Illinois.

Check out my stuff at www.hercampus.com/annabelle-teale.

8. The year abroad opened my eyes to a lot of things and I learnt so much. Not just about how American culture works, but just about life in general. I feel privileged to have had my eyes opened in this way. It's hard to explain when you are on the outside looking in, but for me on the inside looking out, I feel so lucky, and a whole lot smarter.