As I wrote in my last post, every college student should consider studying abroad. Whether it be for 2 weeks or an entire semester, doing this would give the student a better opportunity to expose themselves to diversity. There are many benefits to studying in a different country including personal growth, intercultural benefits, and job opportunities.
According to the IES Abroad program, these benefits are what shape the student into becoming a better person. With personal growth, these students have the opportunity to live on their own and experience different ways of life all on their own. For some, that is a big step to take especially those who have never lived on their own before. Living with a family or staying with other students abroad are two different ways of trying to become more independent.
Another benefit noted was being open to these new cultures. When living in another country, the student has an amazing opportunity to let go of their values from home and start living the way of the new country. They don’t have to do that but when studying in a foreign country, it would be understandable why someone would like to live in a certain way.
Living in another country can also open opportunities in the job market for students. When meeting new people and making connections with these people, a student could have chance at finding a new job. Also, having on your resume that you studied abroad is always a plus when at a job interview. It could give you a ton of things to talk about with the employer interviewing you.
According to Princeton Review, the schools with the most students that study abroad are New York University, Michigan State University, University of Southern California, University of California-Los Angeles, University of Texas- Austin, and University of Washington. Princeton also points out that the major fields of study in which these students go abroad for are social science, business & management, humanities, fine or applied arts, physical or life sciences, and foreign languages. According to these statistics, how many of you are majoring in these fields? As this is my last Civic Issues blog post, I have to ask, will you study abroad? If so where and when?
Throughout out my Civic Issues posts, I have talked about diversity at Penn State, diversity at other college campuses, study abroad, and the benefits & reasons why to study abroad. Hopefully these posts have opened your mind on why it is important to be around diversity and how experiencing other cultures is a great thing to do. Whether it be on a college campus, or in another country, today’s society has grown immensely to accommodate the ones who want to experience such diversity.
