6 Reasons Why You Should Study Abroad in College
Studying abroad is a unique experience where students can work toward their degree all the way across the world. Here are our top 6 reasons why you should consider studying abroad opportunities when picking a college.
1. Immerse in a new culture
When abroad, you’re completely immersed in a culture that’s different from home. You’ll experience culture shocks and norms, learn about history and people, try food, and listen to music. The longer you stay, the likelier you’ll become more than just a tourist and will come to appreciate a country on a completely new level.
2. Learn another language
One of the best ways to learn a language is to live in a country where it’s spoken. Even if you aren’t speaking it 24/7, it’s constantly surrounding your everyday activities – whether it’s the words on signs and menus or the snippets of conversations that walk past you as you explore. You’ll hear the words pronounced by locals and maybe gain new colloquial or slang vocabulary. Living in a place that forces you to use your target language daily increases your learning exponentially and can help you meet your language goals faster.
3. Stand out in career opportunities
Studying abroad forces you to develop new skills to adapt to challenges, including navigating unfamiliar environments, creative problem solving, and resilience. You also learn how to communicate better and work with people from different backgrounds. Aside from skills, having a study abroad experience helps expand your professional network. Your professors, peers, and other contacts you meet become a global network of people who can open doors and opportunities down the road.
4. Become a travel expert
Once you’re there, you’ll have a ton of opportunities to travel on the weekends and breaks from school. So, travel! Take advantage of public transportation and hostels and learn how to travel on a budget. Before you know it, you’ll have built up a ton of experience going from place to place, learned tricks that help in certain cities, and visited several beautiful destinations. You’ll also become an expert for your home base. You’ll know which spots you like best and where the local vendors sell which products. You might not even need a map!
5. Learn more about yourself
Studying abroad teaches you about yourself. You’re on your own in a completely different country – far away from your comfort zone. As you go through highs and lows of what that might mean, whether that’s dealing with language barriers or having to make your own decisions, you discover your true strengths, weaknesses, and values. You get to find out who you are when no one is watching and away from the societal pressures of home. Maybe you find joy in the slower lifestyle of a culture, or you come to appreciate bartering when you never thought about it before. You’ll return not only with new experiences, but with a better sense of who you are.
6. Make friends from around the world
You’ll get to know all kinds of different people during your study abroad. Maybe you befriend the locals and your host family and start to build your own community across the world. Maybe you meet people from other countries who are also studying abroad in the same place, or even a mix of both! This kind of opportunity allows you to meet people you never would have otherwise and can lead to lifelong friendships.
How Do I Study Abroad?
If this is something that interests you, then when deciding on a college, consider which schools offer study abroad opportunities. Research a little about each program and what each opportunity might look like to see if it fits you. Also, talk to your admissions counselor. They can fill you in on the details of what specific programs their school works with and give you more information. It could very likely become some of your favorite college experiences!
At Bluffton...
Bluffton offers semester-long study abroad opportunities in Greece, Guatemala, and Washington, D.C., as well as other options around the world through affiliate programs such as CIEE, Amizade, or CCU GlobalEd.
Shorter cross-cultural experiences are also available to students as part of the Bluffton Blueprint.