Studying abroad might be your first opportunity to leave your home country. But it might feel really intimidating to commit to a semester, year, or full degree program when you’re unsure whether or not you will even enjoy living abroad. If you’re asking yourself: Should I study abroad?, this list is for you. Take a look at these five challenges of studying abroad that you might face if it’s your first time away from home – and five reasons why you should still take the plunge!
What do you do when you accidentally take the wrong bus and end up in a city you can’t pronounce the name of? How do you avoid getting ripped off by street vendors? No matter how much you read up on the challenges of studying abroad before your trip, some unexpected situations will happen. There are only so many Google searches a person can make!
Sure, you might lack some international travel skills at first, but like many new travelers, your youthful spirit, the kindness of strangers, and learning from your mistakes will carry you through. Beginner’s mistakes are completely normal.
Studying abroad is a crash course in traveling and living abroad that will equip you with some nuanced yet useful talents. You will understand how to navigate unsafe neighborhoods safely, where to get the cheapest plane tickets, which travel apps to use, and how to haggle at the local markets.
You will not only learn how to get from one place to another, but you’ll also find that the local people and your fellow travelers can be your greatest resource if you know how to ask for help. Some of your new talents might just revolve around letting things go and moving with the flow, but this is also an essential skill when living internationally!
One of the greatest reasons to study abroad is to learn how to travel, and to take your new skills with you to even more new destinations and cultures.
If studying abroad is your first time outside of your home country, you might find yourself raising your eyebrows at cultural norms that seem downright wacky. If you meet and spend time with friends that are more well-travelled, you might get asked if you’ve ever traveled before as you adjust to cultural differences. It can take time to adjust to a new country and culture with a new way of life and a different way of doing things.
Remember, your own culture can seem a bit strange to others too! Your new friends and professors will help broaden your horizons. You might start to think more about your own culture- and where it overlaps with the culture of your study abroad country. If you’re still asking yourself: ‘Should I study abroad?’, consider the personal growth that will extend beyond your program and into the rest of your life.
Chances are, many of the things you thought of as standard are just that way because you’ve grown up in that world. One of the best reasons to study abroad is discovering a different side to yourself with new habits, favorite foods, and friends from backgrounds that you would never have met otherwise.
It can be hard to make new friends, but feeling like you have nothing in common with others can be extra challenging. Perhaps you’ve never had a friend from outside of your own culture before. You might be worried about offending someone, not understanding them, or just being too different to get along.
As long as you are approachable and interested in making new friends, you will not have a problem. There are plenty of ways to meet new people when studying abroad, and sometimes your differences make the best subject of conversation!
Making new local and international friends during your study abroad experience will give even the shyest wallflower a solid set of skills for making more new friends in the future. While there are many reasons to study abroad, international friendships that continue past your program will be one of the most enriching experiences. When you return to your home country, you might be surprised to find yourself seeking out even more international friends to widen your old social circles!
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