The Scantily Tested Guide for a Successful Co-op Experience Abroad (or Not)

1. To begin, you must choose a country or two that you would like to travel to for more than just banal sorts of reasons.

2. Then, you must Google-search a Wiki-search of the architecture firms in that country or two and go to their websites.

3. On the firm’s website, you must locate their location information – “address” tabs and “contact” tabs tend to yield the optimum results.

4. Then you must, copy and paste the address into Google Maps and locate the nearest beach. If the beach is within a 20 minute walking distance from the architecture firm, it shall be approved for application. Note: the thing about architecture firms within 20 minute walking distances from beaches, are that they tend to have more relaxed hours, people, and fresh, salty “breathing” air.

5. You must apply to approximately 82 architecture firms*. 82 is the magic number that guarantees a minimum of one job offer. The number is reduced by 13% with every co-op term you successfully experience.
*Note: to classify an architecture firm as one of the “82 architecture firms”, they must fall under the category of paying their interns by the hour or supplying a substantial stipend**.
**Note: by “substantial stipend” I mean the equivalent of what an hourly pay would be for that period of time.

6. Once the job offer is confirmed and the JIF (Job Information Form) is complete, you must begin to acquire a residence. The trick about residing in a different country – a country that is not your own – is that you must, must not live alone. The best living situations involve other students or interns with established social calendars that can initiate you into the social scene of that country abroad. University housing websites and forums are peachy.

7. Once you are there, you must say “yes” to everything, except the things you should say “no” to. You may feel homesick and want to cling to your bed but that is crippling for a successful co-op experience.

8. You must smile. Smiles are fluent in every language and architecture colleagues tend to prefer foreign smiles to mundane darting glances. It also seems that non-architectural humans prefer smiles as well.

9. If you don’t already have one, you must find an indigenous lover to properly show you the country – outside of office hours.

10. And lastly, but not leastly a successful co-op experience abroad (or not) banks on the fact that you must be human, and the certain certainty of humanity involves change, and with change comes discomfort, and with discomfort comes growth, and with growth comes learning, and with learning comes experience – and here is the key point so pay attention – and with experience comes a successful co-op experience abroad (or not).

The tall-ish, blond-ish girls, who enjoy games of twenty-one and inappropriate banter have successfully co-op’ed in countries abroad (or not); Australia, United States of America, France and Canada to name names. So, I beg of you, if you are not of the above demographic and have found this scantily tested guide successful, please let me know so I can expand my census. As well, addenda to the guide can be made and should be made, as the certain certainty of humanity involves change.