My gap year in college in Seattle, USA

"When I first decided that I would study abroad to improve my motivational essay for university, I reached out to KILROY for help and inspiration. As I had previously used KILROY for my travels in India, I knew they could help me once more.

After I had scheduled a meeting with an agent, we met shortly after. We looked together at the various options and explored the opportunities for choosing classes and student houses at the colleges available. KILROY could also provide me with a budget for tuition fee, housing fee and cost of living at the different colleges, which was a great help. After I had decided to go to Green River College, KILROY was very helpful and could provide me with everything I needed in terms of housing and visa.

It was a very easy and a smooth process, I only had to visit the embassy and take the TOEFL-test, and they handled the rest. They also established contact between me and the International Programs at Green River College, so they could assist me in registering for the classes I wanted. Overall, I was in very good hands and the entire process was perfectly managed both by KILROY and Green River College."

"Green River College is overall a great college with an exceptional staff and a beautiful campus. From the moment I decided to go there, to the day I left, I always felt in good hands and cared for by the staff and especially the International Programs.

I also got the chance to work for the International Programs while I was there. We were a couple of people who blogged and told about our experiences, but I also got to conduct a focus group concerning interaction between international and domestic students. It took place over a couple of weeks and it was a really giving experience. It taught me a lot about leadership and culture differences and I’m grateful that the International Programs gave me the opportunity. Be sure to reach out to them if you study there and they will be very likely to help you.

The students at the college are also great. I met a bunch of amazing people from so many different countries and I cherish all the friendships I made. There is a great culture diversity and it is fun and learning experience to meet all these people."

Read more about Green River College

"While I was there I made sure to attend student activities. I was part of the soccer team, which I can highly recommend if you like to play soccer. We had a weekly game and that was a good way to make friends and take fun trips. I also attended many events that the school planned. This is something that brought me a lot of joy. I went whale watching, hiking, on camping trips and Seattle day trips. It was always a great time and you will definitely make a lot of new friends. I really enjoyed renting a car or taking a Greyhound bus to take longer trips. You can easily go skiing, visit Oregon or drive up to Vancouver. It’s a lot of fun.

I would say studying abroad at Green River College has really made an impact on my life and me as a person. The classes I took made me realize that Psychology and Business was the right thing for me to pursue. The friendships I made and all the memories I have now is something I often look back on. I traveled there by myself and was the only Scandinavian in the 6 months I was there, but I met a lot of fantastic people from all over the world. I am forever thankful for the experience I had and can only recommend someone else to do it."

I would say the first thing you should do is get to know the area you’re living in. Spend some time exploring your neighborhood, the campus, the city etc. Locate the nearest supermarkets and figure out how the busses and trains works (it’s fairly simple). This will save you a bunch of time and you will feel a lot more comfortable living there.

Another advice I would give is to stay at the student housing, Corner Campus Apartments. This is a unique opportunity to get to know students from all around the world, but also domestic students, although its primarily international students living there. You will be living in a house with 3 other people. You will have your own private bedroom, 2 shared bathrooms, a kitchen area and common room. The facilities are great there and there’s always a lot of people around. It’s also located just 2 minutes away from campus, so you’re always near campus where you’ll be attending classes.

On that note, I would recommend you not to register for online classes if possible. When you go to classes you’ll meet tons of different people and it’s a great way to interact with the domestic students as well.

Last advice I will give is to go do things. Green River College is located in Auburn, which is just an hour away from Seattle. Take day trips and go explore Seattle. It’s an amazing and diverse city. The school and various clubs also arrange events during the weekend and it’s a great opportunity to explore Washington State and meet new people. I highly recommend attending some events. If possible, you can also rent a car and go away for the weekend. Washington State is beautiful and huge, so there’s a lot of amazing scenery and fun things to explore. A trip to the coast, drive along highway 101 and through Olympic National Park is highly recommend. Going to Mt. Rainer is also worth the drive. I personally used the app Turo for renting cars and it worked great for me.