Living abroad: United States (2017-2018)

I moved to the US in 2009 after having won an ASSIST full scholarship to study for a year (grade 11) in a private boarding school in the US: Northfield Mount Hermon School (1.5h from Boston, Massachusetts). It was the first time I left Moldova/Romania region, I was 17 and was supposed to fully immerse in the culture (haven’t seen my family for a year), so this circumstances had a huge impact on my impression of the US. I really enjoyed my year, met a ton of students from many countries and built skills that helped me achieve other successes later on it life. I very much enjoyed the educational system in the US which is based more on building skills & discussions/debates, rather than taking notes and absorbing knowledge. My days included tons of sports which still didn’t stop me from gaining 10kg that year 🙂 I didn’t realize food was not organic by default (like I was used to back home). I did enjoy the weather in that part of the country as it reminded me of home: all 4 seasons and especially beautiful autumn leaves. I didn’t travel much as I was on a tight budget, except for a visit to my friend in Washington DC (which I loved in spring). I won’t make a list here on what you could visit in the US as it would take me ages, but here are some PROS and CONS I find in the idea of living there:

PROS

1. Excellent quality educational system
2. Excellent quality medical care
3. Choice & diversity of weather
4. Many job opportunities in diverse areas

CONS

1. Expensive educational system
2. Expensive medical care
3. You have to make quite an effort to find healthy organic food
4. Not many paid vacation days / no guaranteed paid maternity leave