The Long-Term Benefits of Studying Abroad
It doesn鈥檛 take a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to figure out the short-term benefits of studying abroad. You get to spend a semester traveling the globe, eating exotic food, meeting interesting people, and immersing yourself in a different culture. You鈥檒l have enough stories to last you all year, enough pictures to cover every wall of your apartment, and priceless knowledge about the world.
But some people see a semester abroad as being a self-contained event 鈥 an 鈥渋ntermission鈥 in their college experience, so to say. They want to separate their study abroad friends, memories, and experiences from their 鈥渞eal鈥 college life. But that just simply isn鈥檛 the case. Studying abroad isn鈥檛 just a four-month long vacation or a transient adventure. Living in another culture, on another continent, will change your values, your goals, and much more. There is a very tangible and wonderful long-term impact of studying abroad that often goes overlooked.
Catching the Travel Bug
I was fortunate enough to spend the fall of 2014 in , through IFSA-Butler. Since my grandfather hails from a small town in Ireland, it was great to be able to live in the land where I trace my roots. While abroad, I was also able to take trips to London, Brussels, Amsterdam, Rome, and Cinque Terre, Italy. It was the first time I had been out of the United States, and I definitely caught the travel bug.
My semester abroad is over, and I am now in the middle of my senior year of college applying for medical schools. Before my months in Cork, I was perfectly content to remain in my hometown of Saint Louis or my college town of Tulsa. But now, I can鈥檛 wait to do more traveling. I am currently preparing for a research trip to the rainforests of Costa Rica, and I鈥檓 sketching out plans to return to Europe after I graduate. I鈥檝e used medical school interviews as an excuse to take road trips across the Midwest.
Studying abroad makes you realize exactly how huge and vast and diverse the world is. You could spend your whole life jumping from city to city and still never experience half of the beautiful, awe-inspiring things that fill up the Earth. Studying abroad gave me an appreciation for that diversity; I鈥檓 no longer satisfied with just sitting around in my town. I want to go out and explore the world, learn about new cultures, and turn myself into a more worldly man.
Bringing the Culture Back With You
Studying abroad isn鈥檛 like a vacation. You do more than ride around on a tour bus and take pictures of landmarks. You get to be an active participant in the culture of your host country, completely immersed in something new and different. After you leave, you can鈥檛 separate yourself from that engagement with your host culture- you take some of it back with you to share with your friends and family.
For me, two things that I really discovered a love for while in Ireland were hiking and music. While Ireland doesn鈥檛 have many huge mountains, they have breathtaking green rolling hills and miles upon miles of rural land that is great for hiking and exploring. I participated in my host school鈥檚 mountaineering club to get to know rural Ireland, and once I got back to the United States I didn鈥檛 want to stop hiking. This summer I hiked part of the Grand Canyon with my family and traveled out to rural Oklahoma to hike a gorgeous state park called Natural Falls. It鈥檚 not quite the same as green Ireland, but it鈥檚 something that I brought back with me.
I also love Irish folk music. In addition to my repertoire of rock, pop, and indie music, I now have a playlist on Spotify devoted to Irish folk music. Musicians in Ireland rarely get up on a stage to play 鈥 they pull up a booth in a cozy pub and play for themselves just as much as for their audience. They really love what they do and I love the sound of the music they make. Nothing lifts my spirit more than listening to a few Irish songs and bringing back memories of my time in .
Don鈥檛 Let That Spark Fade
It鈥檚 easy to go back to 鈥渞eal life鈥 after your time abroad, stepping back into old routines. But don鈥檛 let your experiences become just memories or stories. It鈥檚 an amazing opportunity to simply be a student of the world and a traveler for just a few months, so don鈥檛 let the spark of curiosity and adventure fade. You can either let your experiences abroad be something you keep in a dusty photo album, or something that you continue to live out every day. I chose option #2.
Studying abroad gives you a perspective of the world that you can鈥檛 easily shake off. Personally, I couldn鈥檛 just step back into the old routine after realizing how much more was out there. I鈥檓 itching to learn more about the world, to travel and explore and take part in many more cultures around the globe. I hope you鈥檒l join me.
Brendan M. | Biology student | University of Tulsa |聽University College Cork Partnership聽in Ireland