Waiting.

My departing flight to Sydney, Australia leaves exactly 4 weeks from today. 28 days.

I don’t have my visa. I haven’t even applied for it yet. I have not even accepted my offer letter to the University of Newcastle yet.

Why?

Because I put my birthday in the wrong damn format on my application.

Let’s rewind.

The road to studying abroad has been a long one. When I first began to look through the various study abroad programs offered by the University of Arkansas, I had no idea how many steps I would have to complete throughout this process. Even just choosing a program was daunting – the U of A offers over one thousand study abroad opportunities of various types. Some are more guided than others, led by faculty. Some are summer trips. Some are restricted to other majors.

A handful are exchange programs, referring to semester or year-length opportunities in which you “swap places” with a student from another university while still paying tuition and fees to your home university. These programs require a GPA above 3.0 and students must be able to demonstrate resiliency, as exchange students are typically more independent than students in other study abroad programs. After reading through the different types of programs, it was easy to decide that an exchange would be the best fit for me. I’ve been more independent since moving to Fayetteville than I have ever been – I have my own apartment, working part-time while attending school full-time. I had no interest in being restricted to a schedule of excursions, or having to live in a dorm while I study abroad. Naturally, I wanted this independence to continue when I went abroad. I wanted to be free to choose where I live, as well as to be able to explore the city & country of my choosing on my own time, in my own way.

After some deliberation, I settled on the University of Newcastle, Australia. The same place that my girlfriend, Anna, studied abroad in 2017. I was hesitant about this choice at first because I didn’t want feel like I was copying her, or only choosing this location because she had also been there. But Australia ticked all my boxes – an English-speaking country with warm weather, beautiful beaches and landscapes, and an exchange program. In the end, it was an easy decision, and having a partner that has already lived there has been like having my own personal tour guide throughout this entire process. She’s saved me hours of research and planning, which, as busy as I am, has been a huge help and has ultimately made my preparation process much easier.

After discussing my decision with my advisors and the U of A Office of Study Abroad, I submitted my application four months before the deadline – I like to get ahead.
And then, I waited.

I was accepted towards the end of September, just a few days after the application deadline had passed. My application was transitioned from Phase 1 to Phase 2.
I waited again, impatient for the application to the University of Newcastle to open. Again, I submitted it long before the deadline and again, I waited.

I received a decision on December 5th from the International Admissions Office at the U of N. Although I was sure I would get in (After all, I had just spent three semesters maintaining a 4.0 to raise my GPA above a 3.5), it was still a relief to see it in writing. They issued me an offer letter, something I was unfamiliar with. When I was accepted to the University of Arkansas, I was simply accepted. There was no offer letter involved – I applied, got accepted into the school, and then enrolled in courses.

This process looks a bit different. First, an offer letter is issued. It lists the program/major the student has been accepted into, the student’s ID number and birthdate, a deposit amount, and some additional information. Then, the student must log into the portal, pay the deposit amount, and accept the offer letter. Once this is complete, the student will then receive a CoE (Confirmation of Enrollment). This document is extremely important as it is required to apply for a student visa. The visa can take anywhere from one to three weeks to process. In other words, I should have had my visa application submitted weeks ago!

But, as I mentioned – I put my birthday in the wrong damn format on my application to the U of N. Can you blame me? My whole life I have written dates with the month in front, followed by the day. But in foreign countries, the day comes before the month. So, when I received my offer letter, the school had my birthday listed as the 3rd of October instead of the 10th of March. I noticed immediately and emailed them to let them know. I didn’t get a reply for a whole week, but on December 15th, they thanked me for letting them know and assured me I would be issued a new offer letter.

Once again, I waited.
And waited.

Two weeks passed. The semester ended. I quit my job. My final grades were posted. I submitted my tuition reimbursement request through Chipotle (that’s a whole other story). I drove to St. Louis for Christmas. Enjoyed time with family. Enjoyed time with friends. Got my last paycheck. Sent International Admissions another email on December 27th. Got an automated reply informing me that the office would be closed until January 9th and that response times would be slow because of this.
I waited some more, the days until my departure shortening all the while. I drove back to Fayetteville. Anna & I went out for New Years Eve. I emailed my advisor. Got an automated reply that he was out of office until January 4th. I read two books. I played Wii games. Anna & I watched movies and stayed up late just because. I built this website. I checked in with my landlord about the status of subleasing my apartment. I planned my finances out for the next month. I transferred enough money out of my savings to pay for my visa that I still have not applied for. On January 6th, I tried to call the 24 hour hotline number that was given to me in the automated reply from the admissions office. It didn’t go through. I tried 5 other ways of dialing the international 1-800 number. The call still would not go through. I emailed my advisor again. I emailed the admissions office again. I stopped being afraid of international phone call charges and dialed the admissions office. They were still closed.

After what has felt like an eternity, today is finally January 9th. I called the Admissions office at 3:30pm only to get their voicemail. They wouldn’t be open for another 30 minutes. I called the Study Abroad Office at the University of Arkansas and tried to get ahold of my advisor, who has yet to respond to either my emails. The receptionist told me he was busy but would call me back. I started writing this post. I called the Admissions office again at 4:15pm – 9:15am tomorrow in Australia. I realize I should have called yesterday. I finally got ahold of someone. He told me he would forward my emails to someone higher up and get my offer letter taken care of as soon as possible. This was great to hear, but my anxiety will not be eased until I receive the new offer. Also, my advisor never called me back and the office is now closed for the day.

Let me tell you, I am getting real tired of waiting! And I must continue to do it! First I must wait for the new offer letter. Then, for my CoE. Then, for my visa to process. I wish I could say I am calm – I was for a while – but internally, I am panicking slightly. What if my offer letter doesn’t come for another week? What if my CoE takes a week or more to come after that and I can’t apply for my visa until a week before I am supposed to leave? What if they don’t let me enter the country without my visa fully processed? What will I do then? If I haven’t received my visa and enrolled in courses by the commencement date (February 20th), the university can delay my offer until next semester and if that happens I am totally screwed as classes at the U of A will have already begun. And I haven’t even mentioned that I am also still waiting for the U of A to approve my courses! Aahhhhhhh!!

All of those what-if questions aside, the rational part of me does believe that everything will work out. I am very unhappy with myself for entering my birthday wrong (what a small mistake to have caused such a great delay in this process), but there is nothing I can do about it now besides what I have already done. I think I will give it a full day, and if I have not received the new offer by January 11th, I will call the admissions office again. In the meantime, I will put the finishing touches on this website, subscribe to Squarespace so that I can make it public, send it to everyone I think may be interested in knowing about it, and pack for my ski trip.

The next time I write, I hope the only thing I am waiting on is for my plane to touch down in Australia.