By on May 24th, 2017

6 Tips for International Students During Their Final Weeks in the U.S.

As international students will have the time of their lives in the U.S., it should come as no surprise that most of them also struggle during their last few weeks leading up to their departure. The following six tips will help with this.

Stay Focused on Your Academics

While there is a lot to do in these final weeks leading up to your departure, it’s still important that you stay focused on your academics. After all, that’s a big part of why you’re here, too. You’d hate for a good report card to get ruined in the last few weeks because of a couple bad decisions.

Whenever you have downtime, use it to study so that you’re ready to take advantage of all the impromptu opportunities to do fun things with your friends.

Take Pictures

This might seem like strange advice given that just about everyone owns a smartphone these days and constantly has them out taking pictures. Nonetheless, you might want some nice group shots or pics with one friend at a time that you can later print out and frame.

There might be certain parts of the city you’ve grown attached to that you would like a picture of or even with.

It might help to go through the photos on your Facebook account to figure out which ones you don’t have that you would really like. With a few weeks left, you should have more than enough time to add these to your collection.

Make a List of Things You Want to Do

You may have shown up to school with a bucket list of sorts, but that probably changed a lot during your time in the U.S. Before leaving, make time to do everything on this list. As it might involve doing these things with your friends, you’ll want to give them enough time to accommodate your requests, as well.

Of course, plenty of the things on that list may be stuff you’ve already done before. That’s fine, too. This is just a list of whatever makes you happy.

Say Your Goodbyes in a Meaningful Way

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially after such a unique experience. International students can sometimes struggle with this important last step of their time abroad, which is understandable.

Although how you say goodbye to people is a very personal decision, it’s recommended that you think about how you’d like to say it to those whom you’ve become closest with. You may just want to write them a note, but you could also take them out to lunch or some other fun activity.

Begin Packing Early

Another hard part of the end of the journey for many international students is packing up their things. The finality that this represents can make a simple – if not laborious – task an emotional one.

Still, if you don’t begin early, you’re going to find yourself trying to pack up all your things in a rush. It will be really easy to forget items, too, especially if you lived with roommates and yours may have mixed in with their stuff.

Also, if you have to spend your last day or two doing nothing but packing, you can’t spend it saying your meaningful goodbyes and hanging out with people you love.

Don’t Fight Your Emotions

Finally, expect some emotions. You should feel sad about leaving, but there are also going to be plenty of moments when you’re ecstatic about going home. That doesn’t mean you love the people around you any less. Don’t waste energy fighting your emotions during your last few weeks. Just accept them for what they are.

Saying goodbye and leaving your adopted town won’t be easy, but the six tips we just covered should help a lot.