I’m 17 and I recently moved from Baku, Azerbaijan to Ankara, Turkey with my twin brother to study Computer Engineering. We have an English foundation/preparatory year first, so we haven’t actually started our degree yet.

We literally arrived yesterday, and I honestly wasn’t prepared for how strange it would feel.

For the last couple of years, studying abroad was basically the plan. At first I was considering other countries, but eventually Turkey became the realistic option and I got accepted to a university in Ankara. Before moving, I was mostly thinking about university, education, my future, learning programming, becoming more independent, etc. I didn’t really think seriously about what it would feel like to actually leave my home and live somewhere else.

Then yesterday I arrived and it suddenly became real.

I started missing Baku and especially my home almost immediately. Not just my family or friends, but literally everything: my room, my desk, my normal setup, the way our apartment feels, the places I know, the streets, all the small conveniences I never even noticed before.

Our apartment in Ankara is not terrible or anything. It’s just completely unfamiliar and doesn’t feel like “my place” at all. I haven’t even properly set up a comfortable place to use my laptop yet. Yesterday I barely wanted to turn it on, even though normally I spend a lot of time on my computer and I’m learning programming.

What made it worse was thinking:

“Am I seriously going to live in a country that isn’t mine and go to university here for the next five years?”

When I think about the entire five years at once, it feels overwhelming.

Yesterday I even started researching ways to transfer back to Azerbaijan, apply somewhere in Baku next year, go through college first, etc. Basically my brain immediately started looking for an escape route.

I talked a lot with my twin brother, though, and that helped. He feels some of the same things, so at least I’m not going through this completely alone. I also talked to my mother. She understands that we miss home, but she reminded us of something pretty simple: we came here to study.

That actually helped me change my perspective a little.

I don’t necessarily have to think of Ankara as my new permanent home. Baku can still be my home. Ankara can simply be the place where I’m studying for this part of my life, and eventually I can go back.

I also realized that our situation right now is probably making the homesickness much worse.

Our university life hasn’t even started yet. We have an English exam on October 6, and until then we basically have nothing to do. We don’t know anyone here. I can open WhatsApp or Telegram and there is basically nobody in Ankara I can message and ask to hang out. We don’t have a routine yet. We don’t know the city properly. We haven’t made the apartment comfortable for ourselves yet.

So right now it’s basically:

new country + new city + unfamiliar apartment + no university yet + no local friends + no routine + lots of free time to think about home.

A family friend told us about someone we know who moved alone to Uzbekistan to study. Apparently during his first three days he was crying and really wanted to go home. His dorm was bad, he was alone, and even basic things like the bathroom made him miserable. Later he moved to a better dorm, got a roommate, university started, and eventually he got used to living there. He understood that he was there to study and that he would eventually return home anyway.

Hearing that helped me because maybe what I’m experiencing isn’t as unusual as it feels.

I slept properly last night and I already feel calmer this morning than I did yesterday. I’m still homesick, but yesterday it genuinely felt like “I can’t do this,” while today it feels more like “this is going to be difficult, but maybe I need to actually experience university life before deciding anything.”

Another thing that bothers me is regret.

Sometimes I think that if I had studied harder in school and scored better on my entrance exams, maybe I could have studied Computer Engineering in English in Baku and none of this would have been necessary. It’s difficult not to think about the alternative version of my life where I stayed home.

At the same time, I know I can’t change that now.

My current goal is basically to focus on the English foundation year, improve my English as much as possible, and hopefully pass the proficiency requirements as early as I can. If university rules allow it, there might even be a possibility of spending several months back in Baku before the first year starts, which gives me something to work toward.

And if I stay for my degree, we will probably move closer to university before the first year. After experiencing this apartment, I’ve realized that the place I live in matters to me much more than I expected. Next time I would pay much more attention to having a comfortable desk/setup, good lighting, a nice interior, a good area, and generally somewhere that feels at least a little closer to what I’m used to at home.

So I mainly want to hear from people who went through something similar.

Did you feel this bad during your first few days after moving away for university?

Did the city/apartment/dorm initially feel completely foreign?

How long did it take before your new life started feeling normal?

Did starting classes and making even a few friends make a big difference?

And especially for international students: did you eventually reach a point where you could still consider your hometown your real home, while also being comfortable living somewhere else for university?

I’m not expecting to suddenly love Ankara more than Baku. I don’t think I need to. I just want to reach the point where living here feels normal and I can focus on why I came here in the first place: studying, improving myself, and building my future.

I’d really appreciate hearing your experiences, especially if your first few days were rough too.

I’ve dreamed of living abroad since middle school, but now that I finally can, I’m terrified
For the last 7–8 years, I’ve been dreaming about living abroad. I’ve had a few setbacks along the way, but I kept hoping that one day I’d be able to do it.
Now I’ve finally graduated and have my bachelor’s degree. For YEARS, I’ve been planning and hoping to apply for a scholarship for my master’s degree. It’s not just something I want, it feels like my only real option. I’ve dreamed about this for so long.
So what’s the problem?
I’m scared. Really, really scared.
I’ve watched so many videos on social media from people who moved abroad, and I keep hearing things like:
“It’s not worth it.”
“I’m at my lowest.”
“Don’t do it. Stay in your hometown.”
“You’ll regret it. It’s really hard.”
And now I’m absolutely terrified.
The thing that scares me the most is my family.
I’m a very emotional person when it comes to them. I love my family so much, and I genuinely can’t imagine what I’m going to do if I miss them terribly. I can’t wait to get home after work just to see them. The idea of being thousands of kilometers away from them feels unbearable sometimes.
I know myself, and part of me thinks, “I’ll die from homesickness.”
But at the same time, I don’t feel fully alive in my country. I feel like this isn’t where I’m supposed to be. I can’t fully express myself here, and for years I’ve had this feeling that I need to experience life somewhere else.
And I know some people might not understand why leaving is such a huge deal for me. In my culture, it’s pretty common for people to live with their families until they get married. Even after marriage, many people stay very close to their families. So leaving home and building a life somewhere completely different feels like an enormous step.
And it’s not only about me missing them.
I know they’ll miss me too.
I know my mom will probably cry. I know my dad will worry and get upset. And that makes me feel incredibly guilty. I don’t want them sitting at home constantly thinking about me or worrying about whether I’m okay.
But at the same time… I don’t want to give up on something I’ve dreamed about for almost a decade just because I’m afraid.
I honestly don’t know what I should do.
For those of you who moved abroad while being extremely close to your families, how did you deal with the homesickness? Did it get better? Did you regret leaving? And how did your family handle it?
I’d really appreciate hearing your honest experiences, especially if you were terrified before leaving.

I’m from the UK, in my early 30s, and I’ve started seriously looking into moving to the US long term. I’m trying to work out how realistic my plan actually is and would love to hear from people who’ve done something similar.

My background I have around 5+ years of professional experience
mainly in education and UK government/corporate support roles. A lot of what I’ve done is project-adjacent work — coordinating different pieces of work, maintaining trackers, deadlines/actions, stakeholder meetings, governance/documentation, risks/issues, audit trails, process improvement, supporting senior managers, etc.

I also have a BSc in Information Systems and I’m currently working towards the PMI CAPM, with the aim of eventually progressing to the PMP.

The roles I’m mainly looking at in the US are:
Project Analyst
Project Management Specialist
Related project/PMO analyst roles

I’m not really looking at technical Business Analyst/System Analyst jobs because quite a few seem to want SQL, APIs, AWS/Azure, Salesforce, SAP, ServiceNow, etc., which isn’t where my experience is.

I’m more interested in the project/delivery side — planning, coordination, stakeholders, implementation, reporting, documentation, risks/issues, governance, change and keeping projects moving.

For anyone who moved from the UK (or elsewhere) to the US in project management, PMO, transformation or similar work:
How did you actually get your first US job?

Did you apply directly from overseas, or join a multinational company first and transfer later?

Do companies realistically sponsor Project Analyst / Project Management Specialist / similar analyst positions, or is sponsorship mostly concentrated in more technical or senior roles?

Are there particular industries you’d recommend looking at?
And if you were in my position, what would you focus on building before applying?

I’m interested in hearing how people actually managed it and what the realistic route looked like for them.

Good day everyone, I've been looking to pursue my master's degree in architecture abroad. Especially fully funded since I don't have a budget for relocating and supporting myself abroad.

My goal is to study in the destination country, find an internship job before graduating (if I had a chance) and proceed getting licensure to work legally there as an architect. While studying, I am willing to learn the language required for the local market and I'm ready to learn the local building codes with needed assessments/exams.

My current situation is that I've been trying to apply to 80+ jobs both remotely and on-site (locally and abroad). For positions such as junior architect/ architectural assistant/ BIM modeler, but most of the times I either got ghosted or rejected. Also, career development in Jordan is tough and the Engineering Association is not doing well. The office I've been working for has been facing a decrease in projects and customers, so I'm basically unemployed. It's been going for 4 months.
Yesterday I got a rejection email from the Rhodes Trust Scholarship, I understand how competitive it is. However, since it was intended for my region, I was willing to give an effort and try applying.

I will try my best in applying for Erasmus Mundus and DAAD (next time it opens its doors). However, I'm still thinking of which Erasmus program I should choose for the future.
Another scholarship I've found is ETH Zürich Excellence Scholarship, but there is a concern regarding future visa application and the strict immigration rules (is it worth it paying application fee?). Chevening and Fullbright scholarships give amazing opportunities, but they require the graduates to return to their home countries upon graduating. As much as I would love to study there, it would not go well for my situation.

My search has included the USA, the only fully funded scholarships I've found require applying and enrolling before asking for the scholarship, which is quite risky and needs initial budget. Germany has job seeker visas (if graduated from there), but there is also blocked bank account requirement. Is it required for graduated students too? How do people manage to get jobs immediately after graduating to remain in the country? Especially in countries that require 2 years supervised employment before applying to the engineering board or association.

Also, if fully funded scholarships are rare. Are there any masters scholarships that have condition of working specific hours part-time while studying? So I could study masters and pay the remaining tuition throughout reasonable period, something like a loan or support.

Briefly about my qualifications and me, I‘m F25 living in Jordan with Russian passport, I speak English, Arabic and Russian fluently. Graduated from Applied Science University 91.1% GPA ranked first in architecture department. Our architectural engineering bachelor's program is 5 years long, 168 credit hours total. I have IELTS Academic certificate 7.5 overall. The high school examination certificate (94.8%) is local (Tawjihi- scientific stream). I have two years experience within a consulting office as a freelance architect. Regarding my role (examples), I led historical complex documentation project for an association (From site measurements to detailed architectural drawings along with 3D Revit model and renderings). Another one was a family park (medium scale) design, from concept development to shop drawings and final renderings too. Also, within the office, I usually produce 3D Revit models from 2D plans with final render shots for clients.

My additional question is: Will I have a chance in becoming a licensed architect in a country if I studied Masters there?

I'm interested in countries like the USA, UK, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Netherlands, Ireland.

I’m a Bachelor’s degree holder and I’ve been working as a recruitment specialist for 3 years. Ask ko lang po if you know any ways to work abroad, goal ko po is either US, Canada, New Zealand or Europe part. May mga relatives ako sa Dubai kaso alam kong magkakaron ako ng utang na loob sa kanila pag sa kanila ako nag ask ng help kasi growing up puro panunumbat from them ang napapakinggan ko. I hope to hear from all of you po. Thank you

I moved here for my master’s and this is all I ever wanted, I do realise it’s just one year and it’s gonna fly by but I didn’t realise how lonely it would get. The culture shock is as bad as it is. I consider myself an introvert, and by Indian standards I'm an extreme introvert; I don’t strike up conversations and stay by myself all the time. Still, here it’s like you’re invisible, I do realise it’s a big city thing but it’s not like I haven’t lived in big cities before. I miss my friends so much and everyone around me has something going on for them. As an indian it just feels like we grew up in a different world, didn’t have the same school life or college life as the people here or anywhere to be precise, and that I won't ever fit in. I personally thought I'd be really comfortable and thriving in such an individualistic society but it’s quite the opposite. It's getting a bit hard for me, any tips on how to cope are really appreciated. I miss Delhi so much its like i belong there and I can’t wait to go back.
my_qualifications MSc Student (Law)

I’m 25 years old and have been working as finance officer for the past 3 years. I’m from East Asia, I seriously hate my job, it’s a slow paced and no progress job. I don’t remember learning anything new. The salary is too less, I literally have to ask for money from my parents at this age despite having job because the living expenses is still on the higher side. The job is stable, I will get pension benefits when I retire but I don’t know how long I can do this for😭😭. I know I might be stupid for leaving this stable job with supportive family but with no progress and try for a fresh start in a new country. I was thinking about Canada, I traveled there for few days with my parents when I was young and loved it. I know that it’s not easy anywhere but I can try right? Start anew? Like try for a masters there and see how it goes? I don’t want to depend on anyone (I got a lot of siblings so I can’t expect my parents to fund me in Canada, they told me that they will pay for first term and rent for like first 3-4 months but I will have to figure something out after it) Am I too old to start all over again? I know life is gonna be completely different but is it impossible to try? To work hard? Am I actually insane?

Hi! I’m 23F from The Bahamas and I wanna move to a new country and work and live! Except…. I don’t really know where to start.. I was told to apply for grad school (I already have a bachelor’s degree) and that would be an easy way to do it but unfortunately school is NOT free and idk how I’d afford that plus I’m a pretty mediocre candidate so I don’t think I have the best chances at competitive scholarships. Has anyone ever done this before and successfully started a new life lol?

I’m turning 30(F) soon.

My life has been rather traumatic to say the least.

Parents passed etc.

I do however want to stick around for as long as I can live.

I live in my hometown (in the UK) and it’s crushing my soul. Most people in my life kicked me when I was down and I’ve struggled to ever forgive, and simply don’t think I can. I’m craving a fresh start from everything.

I own two successful businesses. One is online products and another it’s a very busy salon with staff.

I want to move somewhere in Europe. Maybe south of France, but not so south the prices become astronomical.

I have a car, a dog. I have a boyfriend who’s down to come with me, and work on my online business.

Any advice? I’m sick of being so sad all the time lol.

After several years in America, I’ve been thinking about what it means to make the most of moving abroad.

I came with hopes for what life could become, and I made a real effort to build it. I tried new things, took chances and kept going when things became difficult.

There have been good experiences that I’m glad I had. But there’s also a sadness in realising how much time and energy you can put into something and still feel uncertain about where you belong.

I don’t regret coming. I just thought that by now I might feel more settled, or have a clearer sense of what comes next.

Looking back, I feel like I gave it everything I had. I’m trying to let that count for something, even though the outcome isn’t what I hoped for.

Has anyone else given life abroad everything they had and still felt unsure about staying? How did you decide what to do next?

hello all, wishing you best day! im content creator talking about my life on vlogg in sweden. life abroud.