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How to Make the Most of Your Study Abroad
How to Make the Most of Your Study Abroad
There are so many benefits to studying abroad that it can feel a bit overwhelming. Here's how to take advantage of these benefits and put your study abroad to work for you!
There are so many benefits to studying abroad that it can feel a bit overwhelming. Here's how to take advantage of these benefits and put your study abroad to work for you!
One of the most universal goals among students studying abroad is to increase their feeling of personal independence and self-reliance. Here is past students say it takes to meet that goal:
- Set clear goals: Why do you want to study abroad? What do you really want to get out of your time abroad? What are your personal, academic, and/or career goals?
- Be aware of the importance of language and culture: Don’t view language and culture differences as obstacles or as insignificant; view it as an opportunity to understand the ways that people differ – including differences within a cultural group.
- Be eager to learn: This includes a willingness to reach out of your comfort zone and to be open to differences in culture, which may possibly result in dramatic changes in how you view yourself. Take advantage of opportunities in your new surroundings.
- Be ready to give and receive: How willing are you to initiate or be receptive to conversations between you and the people in your host country?
- Reduce your expectations: Are you able to lower your expectations? You may need to adapt your ideas about what you can accomplish on a daily basis.
- Tolerate ambiguity: Are you willing to accept the unexpected? “Going with the flow” is critical in study abroad.
- Empathize with others: This is a chance to put yourself in others’ shoes. Actively seek to understand situations from another point of view.
- Understand your own cultural background: Who are you? How does this change (or not) when you are abroad? In what ways are you similar to and different from people in your own country?
Incorporate the new skills you've picked up abroad to impress future employers and take your career to the next level.
Take advantage of your new home by learning how to travel like a pro within your host country and the surrounding region.
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