Thoughts for Thursday: Studying Abroad

These days (as opposed to the OLD days when I was in college) it seems like most Universities and colleges have more and more opportunities for students to travel/study abroad.  Students are encouraged to gain some experience in the world.  I think it is AWESOME!

When I was in college at St Cloud State University, we DID have a few opportunities to study abroad.  You could either have gone to England for a semester and stayed in a castle, or go to Costa Rica.  It was my dream to go to Costa Rica, but you might remember from this post that it just didn't work out for me.  (I am still sad about that.  It is 13 years later (OMG, I am OLD) and I still have not YET made it to Costa Rica).

So I never made it to Costa Rica, but I did, however, have the opportunity to do half of my year-long student teaching on an Indian Reservation in southern AZ during my senior year.  Living and teaching on the Tohono O'Odham Nation was an invaluable experience for me, one that I will never forget.  Living there was probably very similar to living in a third world country.  I will have to write specifically about that experience some time soon.

My parents always thought studying abroad was a good idea and encouraged it:

My brother Brian took advantage of the study abroad at the university he attended (Carleton College), and ended up going to England and studied at Cambridge University.  If I remember correctly, he really enjoyed the experience.

My other brother Jeff went to Kenya, Africa for several weeks and filmed a documentary while he was there.  Check it out!  This was an invaluable experience for him as well.

My cousin Tyler went to Australia and studied for a semester at one of the Universities out there and absolutely LOVED it!  His pictures of his travels are amazing.

Just curious about who else has studied abroad or gone on an foreign exchange of some kind?  Where did you go?  What were some of the valuable things you learned on your journey?  Would you do it again?  If you weren't fortunate to go anywhere, where would you have liked to study if you had been given the chance??

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Other TFT posters today:

Denise on doing what you excel in

Robyn on setting goals

April on vanity and insecurity

Apryl on gardening

Jenny on word associations

Stacy on road rage

Comments

[Robyn]

I wish I would have. I wish I would've taken a year and just traveled abroad. I probably would've stayed in college. I think it would be cool to try and teach English in Japan or something. My brother did an exchange with a kid from Holland. I think he really liked it. It was total culture shock for the other guy to come to a hick town in the middle of nowhere, with no mass transportation. I will encourage my daughter to.

[jenny]

i never studied abroad but if i could have - i would have went to study um, like the white sand on some exotic beach. :) hahaha! no, i really don't know what i would have wanted to do. never really thought of it before!

[April (Mrs. Velvet Cak)]

I have never studied abroad. Probably, for the simple reason that it was hard enough paying for studying here! lol
If I could have, I wouldn't have minded studying in Rome. I think that would be a fun place to study.

[Mary]

The college I went to offered study abroad programs. It looked interesting but I was way too much of a home body to do it!
Now.............I wish I had done it. I think it is a great experience and would highly encourage people to do it if given the opportunity. The two big places when I was in college was Australia and England. I've never been to either.

[Jessica Sztaimberg]

Hi!

I have studied abroad before, and let me tell you… it is completely amazing! I went to Spain, and took classes in three cities: Malaga, Madrid, and Barcelona. Each is lovely, and so different, so it is hard to say which is best, but, I really liked Barcelona. It has everything I need- beautiful beaches, lovely atmosphere, outstanding architecture, friendly people, delicious food, and great culture!

I learned a lot about myself while studying abroad. I became very outgoing and independent, traveling by myself. I managed to do things I never thought that I would do before. Getting on the airplane by myself, and landing in a country where they did not speak my language was a bit scary at first, but I practiced my Spanish, and learned to be okay with making mistakes. I value my time spent in Spain because it has made me understand cultural differences- how not everyone does things the way that you are used to, but that doesn’t make it wrong. I’ve learned that appreciating another culture gives you great knowledge, and that understanding another language is very helpful! It comes in handy all the time, whether at home or in my travels. I appreciate the time that I took to study abroad, and whenever I have the opportunity to travel again, I will.