Deciding to study abroad can open the door to new challenges and fears; however, you will be exposed to even more opportunities, experiences, and benefits that make it worthwhile. Of course, you can always learn these things from home, but immersing yourself in this unique experience will put you on the fast track to positive self-growth and finding your individuality.
Learn a New Language and Make Friends
Most people start learning a language from the comfort of home through web sources, books, and apps; even though this is very convenient, it takes quite a long time to become fluent in another language this way. Due to various cultural influences, sometimes learning from materials doesn’t give an accurate education on pronunciation and common ways of speaking in real life. It seems much more difficult to go to a new country with only knowing the basics of the major language, but this can prove to be a crucial step in solidifying your knowledge by forcing you to practice in real-life daily. Plus, since you’ll be moving to a new place alone, you’ll probably want to make friends and other connections, which can help be a huge motivator in learning the language. When you return home, you’ll also have contacts far away to keep in touch with and maybe even develop a deep friendship.
Education: School and Life Experience
Studying abroad is exciting and fulfilling; after all, college, in general, makes you very knowledgeable across different aspects of the studies offered. Immersing yourself in a new culture, on the other hand, will quickly teach you all the life skills you need to know that most may not acquire in their college years! This will save you time as you pursue your degree and attain various life experiences that are different from your peers and family. Each study abroad program offers different experiences; for example, if you wish to study in Canada, you can start to get excited by researching the various benefits that Canada can offer.
Career Benefits
Obtaining a college degree will already make you stand out to future employers, but you may receive bonus points by adding a semester abroad to your resume. In some cases, students decide to stay in the new country after receiving a job opportunity directly. Even if you want to return to your home country, having this experience of a different culture, language, and education will be an attractive feature to promote yourself in job interviews. Even if you’re looking at graduate school after college, studying abroad will show dedication to your education and make you a more valuable student to the admissions teams.
Focus on Self-Reliance
If you have barely left the state you live in, there will be a whole new world out there to explore all by yourself. If you move away from your friends and family to another state, you can still easily access each other through postal packages and even driving straight to each other. However, since this is much more difficult to achieve when you are abroad, you will surely learn to be truly independent and discover how to thrive somewhere new and unknown. As scary as it may be, luckily there are plenty of resources on the internet to help prepare you to be independent.
Personal Development
Even those who are relatively introverted at home can become world explorers while studying abroad. When you are thrown into a new culture on your own, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to grow into the person you want to be. Wherever you decide to go will certainly be different than your home town, so naturally, you’ll have plenty of things to do and places to explore. Being immersed in a new culture may also broaden your interests and allow you to develop new hobbies. Or, you may even find things you already love perceived differently and you’ll find new ways to enjoy things that seem mundane or average. Your perspective will change and you’ll discover new things about yourself.
Even if you’re not interested in a particular place to study, if you have the opportunity to take your education abroad, accepting the offer to go will be the best decision you’ll ever make. Not only will you develop skills and experiences that make you stand out, but you’ll also grow into an educated, accepting, and unique individual.