More to it than meets the eye.. Studying in the US

Quite a number of my friends and classmates have set off to study abroad for their masters degree and back in August there was this hustle and bustle of friends leaving for the U.S and Europe, the whole crowd both excited and a bit sad for bidding goodbyes and seeing close friends off at the airport, talking of ways that we can still keep in touch and all..

And now three months into their courses it almost seems as though for few of them it hasn't quite been the experience they had expected. Supposedly the first few months flew away with settling down in the University and making new friends and acquaintances but now it is apparently hitting them how hard it is going to be studying in a foreign country and taking care of themselves.

I was a little skeptical in the beginning and accused one of my friends of just being plain lazy when he said it was getting quite hard to manage. But then later I realized that these guys need to manage cooking food 3 times a day, washing clothes, going to college, managing college work, pushing through a part time job, managing expenses all by themselves and also keep in mind not to burden their parents to send more money. So it was no  simple issue that was plaguing these guys, the responsibility of managing their life all by themselves.

My immediate reaction was to blame the parents was pampering their children so they tend to take simple things like food given on time, clean clothes to wear all for granted. But then, its fault on the student's part of not foreseeing all these issues and being prepared. Many of my friends found cooking meals very hard and adjusting to the food that can be got cheap near where they stay was also to be taken into consideration.

I guess if someone is in such a situation.. with the advantage I've had from hearing about how it can be once a student gets there.. I'd say one should take it up as a challenge to try and manage all that is to be done, discipline oneself, make to do lists, ensure they are taken seriously. give yourself rewards if you had a hard week of work and all activities have been completed. all this easier said than done, but rest assured it works.