Sharing Your Experience

 "I found that when I got back home, people would ask about my time abroad, but then wouldn't want to listen to what I had to say. It was a very isolating experience to feel so disconnected from my friends, who had spent the three months I was away making new inside jokes, memories, and relationships. And my family would say they wanted to hear about it, but never had the time to really listen. For a little bit I just really didn't know where I fit into my home life." ~Nazareth University student who studied abroad in Costa Rica 

The question you'll inevitably be asked over and over again after you return home from your time abroad: 

"So, how was it?!"

You might be thinking to yourself: How do I respond to this question? How is it possible to condense months into a few minutes? Why is the person I'm talking to losing interest almost immediately? 

It likely feels impossible to sum up the highs and lows, the nuanced cultural differences, the friendships, the anxiety, and the learning into one conversation. And it is! 

Here are some tips to share your experience in a way that you'll feel you successfully communicated and to keep the other person engaged: 

• Recognize the attention span of the person you are talking with. If you bumped into each other in the middle of your busy lives, they may only have a minute and you'll need to have a short script prepared that sums up your experience in just a few sentences. If you are eager to talk more in-depth, find times and places to share intentionally! Ask if you can buy someone a cup of coffee and spend an hour sharing your experience or create a presentation about what you learned to share at your high school's foreign language program, at your university, or in your community. 

• When you get back, you might feel like you want to tell somebody about your time abroad all at once, but you don't have to! Over the next few months, details of your study abroad will slowly reveal themselves to your friends and family. 

• When speaking about your time abroad, speak honestly about your experience, but also give the country and culture dignity. Your time abroad was not a vacation, so you don't need to make it sound like one! Be honest about the challenges, learning, and emotions you faced while you were abroad. However, at the same time, it is important to be aware of the fact that other people likely do not have a lot of knowledge about where you were besides what they see online or on TV. You might get some weird questions and you have a responsibility to speak about the culture and the country with dignity to dispel stereotypes and misconceptions. 

• Acknowledge the privilege you had to be able to study abroad. Be sure to be humble as you share your experiences with others. Studying abroad is not an opportunity that everyone has access to, so don't talk about how the experience is the only way to change your life, and don't criticize people if they are not interested. 

• Make sure the conversation is balanced. Your friends and family will likely be eager to fill you in on what's been happening at home while you were away. Be sure to listen openly the same way you want them to listen to you. 

Here are some other resources related to this topic:

➡ For tips when it comes to sharing on social media 

➡ For other ways to cope with adjusting to life back home