The Durham University School of Government and International Affairs

Nobody ever wants to admit they don’t know something.  No one wants to have to say “You know what, I’m really not sure.”  This is especially true when you’re facing a new experience.  Look back to when you were going off to university for the first time.  You probably tried to get as much information about what you were diving into as you could, asking family questions, looking online, anything you could do to know more.  But there were probably things you didn’t know!  The unknown is often one of the biggest stressors in life.

I could write a book on the things I’ve been uncertain about so far in the exchange process.  For the longest time, I didn’t know about what courses I would be able to take.  I didn’t know where I would be living.  I didn’t know what kind of room I would have.  I still don’t know what my room will look like.  I don’t know what the food will be like.  I don’t know what the classes will be like.  I don’t know who I’ll be living with.  For quite a while I didn’t know if I’d be living next to an independent Scotland. To quote and slightly paraphrase the West Wing, “the total tonnage of what I […] don’t [know] could stun a team of oxen in its tracks”.

I’ve tried learning more.  I spoke with a professor who did his PhD in the UK to try and gage the educational system over there.  I sent off plenty of e-mail trying to figure out what my accommodations would be like.  I’ve scoured Durham’s website for information about what it’ll be like.  But here’s a secret I’ve discovered: there’s a lot of information for first year students but not a ton for exchange students.  I guess the fact that first year students outnumber exchange students by a huge margin is probably to blame, but it can be pretty annoying.

So what do I do in the face of all this uncertainty? The only thing I can do. I embrace it.  Uncertainty doesn’t have to be a bad thing.  If I wanted to know exactly what I was in for, I would stay at UBC for the next year.  I know UBC.  I know what classes are like, what campus is like.  I know that there are five Starbucks on campus but only two will let you reload your Starbucks Card.  There isn’t a lot of uncertainty at UBC.  Exchange is about that uncertainty.  It’s about doing something new and exciting.  It’s about facing the unknown and saying “I can’t wait!”

If you’re about to go on exchange and you can say “I know exactly what I’m doing”, chances are you’re either lying to yourself or you’re just wrong.  And that’s not a bad thing.  Uncertainty is exciting.  At its core, what makes an adventure so exciting is that you never know where it will end or where the journey will take you.  Embrace what you don’t know.  Life is an adventure; knowing everything before it happens would be boring.