EXPERIENCE

You will hear many people tell you that the "experience" of studying abroad is really the vital part of the process. What do they mean by this?

Appreciating Other Cultures

We can say almost without exception that living abroad is the best way to broaden your horizons and increase your appreciation for other cultures and people. Living in a different culture allows you to learn it from the inside out. Particularly if you are living with a host family or with foreign students who bring you into their group, you will learn more in a few weeks than you could in years of studying textbooks.

Little Blunders

The experience of living in another culture can also teach us how 'strange' some of our own assumptions are. Try looking for any sort of establishment abroad that is open 24/7 for your convenience. We guarantee you will not find many. (At least not of the sort that you should be going to!)

Life in many other areas of the world tends to move at a different pace and value different ideals than American culture. Although you also may be surprised occasionally at the strange places that America does intrude (such as hearing Britney Spears blaring on a market street in the middle of Guatemala). Savor the chance to get away from the familiar and learn from people that have an entirely different background and preconceptions. (Keep in mind that everyone has preconceptions; we just usually do not think about them since they inform and guide us all the time without us consciously referencing them.)

Different Lifestyles

One piece of advice for picking a school for study abroad would be to pick a type of institution that differs greatly from your home school. If you go to a small school, pick a big one, if you are on a rural campus, move to an urban campus, and vice versa. Look for someplace that will give you as diverse an experience as possible.

A new variety of available classes may also be an unexpected benefit of studying abroad. If you attend a small school normally, and pick a larger school for studying abroad, you may find that the new school offers that obscure class in children's fantasy literature that you have always wished existed at your school. The only way to discover these opportunities is to carefully examine what different schools offer.

Global Perspective

Those returning from studies abroad also tend to exclaim at their increased understanding of the world and the global perspective they acquired. It is not only the experience of learning about another culture that increases global perspective, it is learning from those that already have a more global perspective themselves.

Few nations today maintain as much isolation and general lack of global perspective as the United States and her citizens. Most Europeans you talk to will express amazement at the percentage of Americans that have never been out of the country, and do not even have their passports. People from most other nations tend to be more aware of the world around them out of necessity if nothing else. Studying abroad affords the unparalleled opportunity to not only learn about the country in which you are studying but also to visit neighboring countries and to explore the idea of a global community.

Another aspect of gaining a global perspective is understanding where the United States fits in terms of the world viewpoint. While this may not always make for a pretty or encouraging discussion, it is both informative and sobering to realize how people from many other areas of the globe view Americans. While these may be stereotypes just as we stereotype others, it is important to learn what other people think so that going forward, those with such an understanding can help shape America's future as part of that global community.

Maturity

With all the benefits of experience comes maturity. Beginning to learn about another culture and gain global perspective and understanding will inevitably be a difficult and challenging journey. Studying abroad is a fantastic experience but not always because it is fun or carefree. Growth is frequently painful and confusing, but that does not make it any less necessary or valuable.

(And for those of you who are getting worried or discouraged at this point, DO NOT WORRY! You are going to have a blast studying abroad, and will likely only remember that it was painful and confusing in those moments when you are waxing philosophical and disseminating your garnered wisdom to the uninitiated contemplating the journey.)
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After studying abroad, most students never view their education in the same way again. A powerful experience, it often influences subsequent educational endeavors, including the decision to pursue higher degrees. More than 52 percent of respondents indicated that they had achieved a post-graduate degree, compared to the 9 percent of U.S. Americans obtaining graduate degrees as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau*. More than 80 percent of respondents agreed that studying abroad had enhanced their interest in academic study.

Study abroad students return home with a greater vigor for academic pursuits and a renewed interest in lifelong learning. Nearly 63 percent of students said that the experience had influenced their decisions to expand or change their academic majors. In fact, nearly 90 percent of students indicated that their experiences abroad had influenced all their subsequent educational experiences. Julia Reinhard Lupton (IES Freiburg 1983) attributes her current position as associate professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California-Irvine to her experience abroad. “The language, research and living skills I learned [in Germany] continue to sustain me now in my career as a professor. I always encourage my undergraduate students to consider including study abroad in their academic plans, since I know what a difference it has made in my own life.”
For those students who studied abroad to improve or develop foreign language skills, experiencing a language firsthand—in the streets of a foreign city, in a local university course or while living with local roommates—made an indelible impact on their foreign language skills. Nearly 35 percent of the students who studied a foreign language abroad still use a language other than English on a regular basis (twice a month). Spanish was cited as the most commonly used language, followed by French and German.