The beginning of a life-changing exchange programme at Gachon University, South Korea, in 2017. In September 2017, I boarded a flight to South Korea with a suitcase full of clothes, a folder full of documents and a heart filled with excitement. I had spent weeks reading blogs, watching YouTube videos and asking former exchange students what life in South Korea would be like. I thought I was prepared. I wasn't. No article could truly prepare me for what it feels like to wake up in a new country, hear a language you barely understand, navigate unfamiliar streets and slowly build a life that, just weeks earlier, had existed only in your imagination. Looking back nearly a decade later, there are so many things I wish someone had told me before I left India. Some would have made my first few weeks easier. Others would simply have reminded me to slow down and appreciate the little moments that eventually became my favourite memories. So, if you're preparing for a student ...