Originally Posted by saifff

Sharmin,
I am a Xavier Bonaire student starting MD2 in January. I came with my wife and daughter (I am the oldest student on the island at 34 ). It was definitely overwhelming coming from the US. Here are the answers to your questions:

1. In terms of the island the biggest issues were the mosquitoes. They are big and fast. They are worse than any I have seen. You get used to them or maybe they only like fresh blood, but after a few weeks, they dont seem to be so bad. But right when you get off the plane, they will start feasting on you.

2. As for studying. As you might expect, this part is overwhelming also. There is always something more you should be learning. What I have found to work best is to set specific study hours and make sure you also schedule breaks. Unfortunately there is no magical answer. You dont want to burn out but you of course want to learn as much as you can.

3. The one good thing is that almost all the students are from the US or Canada so they all will have the same overwhelming experience as you will. Misery loves company. For my class, everybody has their little groups but everybody seems to get along for the most part so that makes the experience much better.

Let me know you have any other questions.

--Saif