You’re walking down a familiar road, under a smoke-y grey sky. Speeding buses, trilling bicyclists and black cabs pass on the road. Business men in ruffled suits, construction workers revitalizing old roman buildings on ladders, young 20-somethings in clunky doc martins, layered cardigans and beanies topped with fluffy baubles strut by like the cobbled road is a fashionistas and fashionistos catwalk.
This was a tiny minute of my London, where I spent the last 10 months studying, living, experiencing, and changing my life. Studying abroad truly colors and changes your life from the people you meet, the places you see, and the experiences you have.
I spoke with 4 other students who went abroad recently, Miranda Barrett 4th year Sociology major who studied for a year in Tokyo Japan, Sahana Sankar and Kunali Shah 4th year Business Administration major who both studied in Warwick, England in the Spring, and Kassy Peterson 5th year Psychology and Women Studies’ major who studied abroad Spring in Ghana, Africa. Oh and myself, Violet DT 4th year Creative Writing major in London, England for the year.
Together we’ve complied a list of the top 6 reasons for you to study abroad:
1. The experience
The experience is used so often to describe going abroad, it begins to sound like a mystical transcending everything you could have ever possibly known. In ways, this is exactly how it feels. I am not joking when I say there were moments in my 10-month stay that felt exactly like a movie. Other times it was chill, calm and even boring. Yet, it’s the memories that you come away with, the foods that you long for after you’ve left, the friends that you’ll return to visit, the new ideas that penetrated your idealisms, and the cobbled streets that became your familiar that become your experience, and make it so incredibly brilliant.
2. Learning about yourself
Ask any study abroad student, going abroad isn’t like the movies (I’m thinking the Lizzie McGuire movie which boasts the ultimate study abroad experience with adventure, romance and ending in a musical number). It can be tough, weird, and awkward at times. Even in England where the language is the same I had difficulty understanding people because of the varying accents and jargon! Customs in California are incredibly varying to the rest of the world, even what people complain about in the US are different what people complain about elsewhere. However, it’s those raw experiences that help you grow and help you learn about who you are when put in entire new way of life.
“Studying abroad helped me learn more about myself, and truly shaped my personality and character. I discovered so much more about my sensibilities and values. The way of life, mentalities and worldviews in the UK are different from those in the United States, but I felt very much at home there. I learned that the ideals that exist and have been ingrained in my mind from having lived in Southern California my entire life are not absolute.” Sahana S.
3. A new post-abroad perspective
“My experience abroad has changed my outlook on many aspects of my life in America. Currently, I’m applying to go abroad to teach again and I believe I have found my calling to teach internationally. Along with my newfound itch to travel going abroad has given me the courage to overcome anything.” Kassy P.
“Studying abroad allowed me to travel, meet new people, try new things. I am now considering the idea of studying for my MBA in England. The international experience makes one more independent.” Kunali S.
“I had always thought that I would never venture outside the United States career-wise, but now I am certain that I would like to go abroad again, and should, if which ever career I choose takes me to a different country, I would happily welcome the opportunity.” Sahana S.
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4. Engage in the culture (food, entertainment, sports, nightlife)
Every travel site, travel book and travel show will have those top 10 places you need to go, foods you need to eat, and things you need to see while you’re in that country. With studying abroad you can accomplish every touristy thing on those 200-page guides, but the true beauty is that you get to surpass being a tourist, and live like a local. You can eat at the fancy well-known restaurants, or grab a greasy street vendor bite with friends after a ridiculous night out in one of the clubs you would otherwise avoid but had decent deals on drinks; you can see the art galleries on a Tuesday morning when tourists are spare but the museums are otherwise occupied by school children on field trips; you can spend all day chilling out, chatting with mates because you have tomorrow, and the next day and the day after to do all the sight-seeing.
5. Making friends from around the world
“My biggest worry was not being able to fit in or adjust to life overseas. It was solved through realizing and finding others in the same boat, we all worked through our worries together. Some of my favorite times were going to eat at kaiten-zushi (merry go round’) sushi with friends (excessively).” Miranda B.
“I loved traveling with my fellow exchange students during the first couple of months that I was in the UK. It was a way for all of us to get to know one another and build memories together. I’m very lucky to have had such a great group of people to share my experiences with, and being able to visit local cities and landmarks with them only added to the fun and excitement of being abroad. We were all in the same boat—abroad alone for the first time in a country with which we were fairly unfamiliar, nervous about adjusting to our new lives in the UK, and hoping to meet great people.” Sahana S.
6. Doing something (and becoming someone) different
“Most EPIC experience you will ever have in college. It will set you apart from the people who unfortunately spent their 4 years doing the same ol’ thing.” Kassy P.
“Traveling is an amazing experience. I highly recommend studying abroad to any student, to gain an international experience, to meet new people and enjoy a different culture and lifestyle.” Kunali S.
“I feel like a more experience enriched person and my horizons have expanded internationally.” Miranda B.
Hopefully, your interest in study abroad has at least been tickled if not peaked! With all this in mind, today, Monday October 15th 2012, UCR’s World Fest Study Abroad Fair put on by the International Education Center with many other providers will be going on from 10am to 2pm in the Rivera Walkway. Stop by, pick up some flyers, see what opportunities lie beyond the horizon for you!
In the upcoming weeks, I hope to provide more in depth stories about those who’ve studied abroad and give you the true, funny, scary and hilarious about what it means to be foreign in another country!