Charity Rose King, a senior Family and Consumer Science major is seeing squirrels again after returning back to Sacramento State from a year of study abroad at the University of Western Sydney in Australia.

Only one percent of college students in the United States study abroad, says the Association of International Educators.

The reasons students study abroad can range from a desire to learn a new language to immersing oneself in another culture to but one of the biggest reasons many students do not study abroad is fear.

The fear of being away from home for a long period of time, financial costs and not being accepted into the program are all common and something King experienced as well.

However, when King saw the deadline to apply to study in Australia was the next day while walking down Lassen Hall, she remembered past desires to travel and said she knew she had to apply.

“I didn’t really think about studying abroad again until I was in Lassen hall one day and saw the deadline was the next day. I was nervous to do it, but I knew I had a heart for Australia,” said King. “I decided I wanted to go so my boss a work helped me with the applications and write my reference. I wrote my essay, scholarship essays the whole night before. I stayed up until 5 a.m.”

After six months of waiting, King found out she had been accepted to the University of Western Sydney while working over the summer as an orientation leader on campus.

“When I found out I got in I was literally just dancing and jumping and all my students were celebrating with me, cheering me on. It was really fun,” said King.

Quickly King needed to prepare by obtaining a visa, insurance and housing in order to make it to their new colleges. The students were responsible for finding work, housing and maintaining contact with their international school.

After months of work, King arrived to Australia only to find the school different than what they expected.

“The school was in the country so there was literally nothing around me. Our neighbors were cows and sheep that lived all around us” said King. “The idea I had in my mind before arriving was very different, but it was really fun anyway. It was like we had our own little village there.”

Despite that, King described her time abroad as more than anything she could have expected.

King describes the friendships she made with people from around the world as one of the things she values most during her year abroad. In Australia, King was able to make friends at her school, her job as a vitamin consultant and pharmacy technician and during trips.

“Traveling by yourself you’re forced to make friends. At first it can be overwhelming but I have a couch to stay on in almost every country now because of all the people I’ve met while traveling,” said King.

Even after returning to Sac State King still keeps in contact with her new friends.

“I send them stuff like snap chats all the time. They love squirrels. They don’t have them there so I send them videos of squirrels and I ask for pictures of koalas,” said King.

One of her favorite memories with friends abroad was in Tasmania on a camping trip at a nature preserve.

“At the preserve they had an animal sanctuary and when they opened the gate all these kangaroos came to us,” said King. “It was much fun and we even took selfies with the kangaroos. I thought ‘Holy cow I am hanging out with kangaroos.’ That was an amazing moment.”

That experience also led to another experience King says she will never forget.

”I was leaning over, smiling to take a picture and I felt a tug. At the time I had long hair and a wombat grabbed onto my hair. I literally had to rip it out of its mouth. It ate my hair and I had to get a pixie cut after that.”

What King values most about her year abroad was how the experienced changed her emotionally and mentally.

“I feel like I am more complete as a person. I am more down to earth I have a better perspective of the world,” said King. “I am confident in what I can do and where I can go. I know the world is my oyster man, and I’m going to conquer that.”

Students who are interested in studying abroad can visit the Office of Global Education located in Lassen Hall, room 2304.

Alex Hernandez can be reached at [email protected]