Tips for Preparing to Study Abroad
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After spending two college semesters in northern Thailand, Sarah Jongsma found herself back home in the rural Nevada town where she grew up, surrounded by everything familiar yet feeling strangely out of place.
“It caught me off guard,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
Only later, after a summer studying in India and while preparing to go to France for another semester abroad, did Jongsma understand what she had been feeling: reverse culture shock.
The 22-year-old’s experience shows that studying abroad can be challenging in unexpected ways. Experts say that’s why students need to study up on not only safety precautions and cultural differences, but also the emotional shifts that may come with leaving home — and returning to it.
Planning for low points and potential disappointments, experts say, can help students focus on making the most of a trip that is exciting, challenging and life-changing.
“The value and purpose of studying abroad is to learn about the rest of the world as well as learn about yourself. In fact, it is the juxtaposition of having your assumptions tested that you can gain from studying abroad and helps you understand yourself even better,” said Bill Bull, vice president of risk management for the Council on International Educational Exchange, which facilitates high school, college and faculty study-abroad programs.
Read the full article from AP here.