Anyone can tell you there’s a lot to be taken away from a semester abroad. Whether it’s the experience of riding a donkey up the steps of Santorini, sky diving over the Swiss Alps, or riding elephants in Africa, the amazing experiences are limitless and unique to every destination.
While these are all fun, once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, there’s a lot more to studying abroad than just the trips you take and the food you consume. The greatest takeaways for me were in the form of gained perspectives, teachings, and guidance.
Maybe you’re reading this after spending a semester abroad in Australia, Europe, Africa, just looking to reminisce, or maybe you’re debating whether or not studying abroad is right for you. Either way, here are eight invaluable souvenirs (greater than any trinket) to bring back home with you:
1. Spending money on experiences, not things
One of the greatest takeaways is being able to realize that, no matter how many times you say it, there is immeasurably more value in spending money on experiences over materialistic objects. Need a new shirt? You can probably buy one when you get home.
The opportunity to go ATV-ing through the sand dunes of Namibia? Priceless. People always told me this growing up, but once you’re actually faced with the opportunity to budget money on rare experiences versus materialistic objects, you’ll know which one to choose.
2. The ability to adapt to your surroundings
Another learned life skill is, quite obviously, being forced to adapt to your surroundings in any situation. Maybe the hostel you rented is not as described and has terribly uncomfortable beds. Maybe you’re not used to having no AC in 100 degree weather. Learning to be flexible and handle whatever cards you’re dealt is a valuable skill people never learn while growing up in a comfort zone.
3. The importance of learning to think critically
I can think of so many moments abroad where I had to think on my toes and act quickly–running to catch a train, trying to explain to someone foreign what you’re looking for, getting lost when your cell phone is dead and no one speaks English.
At home you’re not forced to challenge yourself. Things are well-explained, clear-cut, and intuitive. In a foreign country, however, you’re going to need to think critically to make sense of certain situations.
4. The value of education
I can’t stress this one enough. Being in classes with foreign students–ranging from Lebanese, to Spanish, to Russian–I truly gained perspective on how fortunate we are to be from a country where education is not only valued and encouraged, but enforced. The level to which the Americans in my classes had a better grasp on homework, essays, tests, etc., doesn’t even come close to that of the foreign students.
5. The fact that things don’t always move at lightning speed
A huge adjustment moving to a new country is the idea that life moves at a different pace. For many, we’re use to the hustle and bustle of America. In most other places, life moves at a much slower pace. Labor is viewed differently and, in turn, so is leisure time. Restaurant service is slower, trains and buses can run late, people walk slower. Live in the moment and take this change of pace as a blessing in disguise!
6. The importance of putting things in perspective
The pressures instilled in us growing up advise us to be the ‘best,’ the ‘smartest,’ the ‘fastest’–all these superlatives that quantify and rank us. While studying abroad, you’ll be faced with circumstances that open your eyes to a much different perspective regarding competition and your own self justification.
The things that once stressed you out so much, or that consumed so much of your energy, no longer seem as relevant. You can’t let the little things affect you as much. It’s important to take in the beauty and uniqueness that your destination has to offer and be able to let go of unimportant impediments bogging down your mind.
7. The awareness that we take a lot for granted
The more places you travel, the more your eyes will be opened to how fortunate you are to be from the United States. Granted, lifestyles range depending on where you travel to, but as a general rule of thumb, we’re pretty lucky to be from such a powerful, up-to-date country.
For many, their lifestyles have become their standard of living and they don’t think much of it. The slums of Prague or the dangers of Israel no longer seem harmful, because it’s all they know. A shocking truth, but visiting less fortunate places allows one to gain some context on the way the rest of the world lives.
8. The opportunity to gain a different perspective of America
Lastly, learning from your peers and the people you meet along the way about how they view the United States is special conversation limited to abroad experiences. Nothing of the sort can be learned from a textbook or in a college classroom, only picked up on from real-life experiences.
To understand how others view our government, our lifestyle, our culture, and so much more, is truly an eye-opening opportunity. What you think is assumed may not be what the rest of the world is taught. What we’ve all grown up with is self-learned and subconscious–listening to others perspectives is something we’re only given the chance for once in a blue moon.
All in all, whatever you hope to gain from your time abroad (which will likely include 3-26 pounds), some of these life lessons will be offered to you along the way. Whether you choose to take them in, recognize them, and apply them to the future is up to you. Studying abroad is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and offers so much more than what can be learned in a college classroom. Whether it’s for four weeks or four months, traveling is one of the most informative chances for college-aged kids to gain perspective on our world.