Study Abroad
Maybe I have a slightly different perspective on this topic because I grew up literally in the middle of a corn field and the extent of my childhood multicultural experience was talking to the 4 or 5 Hispanic kids in my grade whose parents worked at the canning factory during harvest season, but whenever I hear somebody ask whether they should study abroad as opposed to doing an internship or minor, I have to chuckle.
I chuckle because in my mind there is absolutely no reason why one wouldn’t do a study abroad. Maybe it’s because my hometown was 98% other white people and I wanted to get as far away from that as possible, but I really think study abroad should be required for every student. And not just because getting wasted in a foreign country and all the shenanigans that go along with that is really fun. There are actually real skills to be gained, skills you will never get from a paper pushing internship.
It starts by picking the right city to go to. For the love of God please don’t go to London. There are few things that are a bigger waste of time and money than going to another English-speaking country to do a study abroad. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Do a program that is conducted in a foreign language, or a straight up intensive language program in a developing country. Throw yourself into an unfamiliar environment. This is an expedition, not a vacation.
By jumping into a culture you’ve never experienced before, not only will you learn a ton about that other culture, but more importantly at the same time you’ll learn things about just as much about yourself- how you react and adapt, why you have certain perceptions and expectations.
Leave your laptop back in the States. The more you disconnect from your lifestyle in the US, the more you will be able to integrate into the new environment. How good of an experience can you have if you sit on your Facebook everyday chatting with your friends back home?
If you do it right, after the initial excitement wears off you won’t enjoy your experience. You’ll miss your family and friends. You’ll hate the fact that everybody speaks a different language than you. You’ll have a hard time understanding the different values system. More than anything you’ll just want to go home.
After a few weeks though you’ll start to feel better as you figure things out and become more settled in. You’ll become more comfortable getting around in the local language. By the time you have to go home, you’ll almost feel a little bit like you’re actually leaving home. It will feel good to go back to your family and friends, but you’ll feel like you’re leaving something behind.
In regard to exactly which semester to go abroad, I recommend doing it the summer after your freshman year or the fall of your sophomore year. If you have your heart set on doing finance internships in New York, studying abroad earlier in your college career not only gives you flexibility to pursue internships, but will also better prepare you for those internships by helping you understand how you operate in an unfamiliar environment.
Heck you could even do a semester abroad, come back for a year and then go abroad again for a year. Maybe that would cause you to delay graduation by a year, but you have your whole life ahead of you to sit in an office being someone else’s bitch. Spend the time you have now doing something that actually matters. Study abroad teaches not only helps you learn about a foreign culture, but helps you understand yourself.
Comments
One internship abroad and 3
One internship abroad and 3 semesters abroad. It delayed graduating by one year, but definitely one of the best decisions of my life!
Another plus to studying abroad is it provides a great topic of conversation for interviews.
Would there be no hope for
Would there be no hope for someone once they started working? Besides getting moved to an international office, are there any well-known companies/programs that do international rotations?
I just can't afford it
I just can't afford it
I studied abroad in two
I studied abroad in two different countries and interned abroad in a third country. I still graduated in four years with a degree in finance and economics. However, I had to cram many of the classes in college and had to balance a lot of things so I wasn't able to keep my gpa up as much as I wanted to. That and my university doesn't count study abroad grades for gpa.
In any case it was really worth it cause I was also able to do it completely on the university's money. My scholarships exceeded the cost of studying abroad so I ended up even having some extra spending money directly from the university!
"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education" - Mark Twain
+1, SB. I've done a full
+1, SB.
I've done a full semester overseas. Though all classes were in English, the native language was not English, I was in an environment far removed from home, and used the opportunity to visit some of the more exotic locations of the world before I came back.
A couple of tips for those wanting to go on a semester exchange/year long exchange:
- keep your GPA sky high if you want first choice of destinations.
- take an extra course in the semester(s) leading up to it, allowing you to do a reduced work load or non-relevant "interest" courses overseas
- any destination is better than no destination. Don't turn down an opportunity in rural Germany just because you'd prefer Paris. I've seen students do this - they have a preferred destination and aren't willing to compromise. Guess who was jealous that I went and they did not? Take what you can get.
- send postcards back home to family rather than just emails. A postcard is more meaningful than an email, and your family will be grateful.
- For the second time, keep your GPA sky high if you want the best opportunities.
J_monkey: I just can't afford
I just can't afford it
Between grants, scholarships, and even loans- the money is out there. There are numerous grant and scholarship programs specifically for study abroad. Get on the Google and start scouring for them like you would for a boutique bank MD's email.
See my other WSO blog posts
olafenizer: J_monkey: I
I just can't afford it
Between grants, scholarships, and even loans- the money is out there. There are numerous grant and scholarship programs specifically for study abroad. Get on the Google and start scouring for them like you would for a boutique bank MD's email.
Nice analogy.
I did a semester in the US
I did a semester in the US (Chapel Hill). It was in a foreign language and I learned a lot about the culture ;)
Regarding not being able to
Regarding not being able to afford it.
I did a semester in Bangkok and could be done for much less than a semester at home if you don't count the excessive travel I did while I was there.
Flight - $800
1-Bedroom Apartment - $200 / month
Food - $300 / month ***Very conservative can get a meal for $1
Textbooks - $1 / Month *** Photocopied one due to slack copyright
Transportation - $100 / Month *** Taxi's are cheap (~$3 for 20min ride)
Booze - $100 / Month *** Bottle of Liquor is $5 & Beers are $1.50
Just showing that there are ways to experience studying abroad if working with a limited budget.
zeuscannon: Would there be no
Would there be no hope for someone once they started working? Besides getting moved to an international office, are there any well-known companies/programs that do international rotations?
Definitely still hope to live abroad once you've started working. I live in Beijing and know several people that are here working for international companies on rotational programs.
See my other WSO blog posts
great post, I didnt study
great post, I didnt study abroad but really wish I did, and now i'm making up for it
WSO's COO (Chief Operating Orangutan) | My story | Connect with me on Linkedin.
2013 WSO Conference
olafenizer: zeuscannon: Wou
Would there be no hope for someone once they started working? Besides getting moved to an international office, are there any well-known companies/programs that do international rotations?
Definitely still hope to live abroad once you've started working. I live in Beijing and know several people that are here working for international companies on rotational programs.
It's never too late to go abroad, but I'd make a strong distinction between "working abroad" and "studying abroad". I've done both and I would say they are very different experiences.
Studying abroad entails having a group of kids with similar interests and socioeconomic backgrounds with LITERALLY no responsibilities (i.e not even grades) in an unfamiliar environment which forces people to bond together. Everyone knows that they won't have this opportunity again and so they go absolutely bananas. Even if you're in an intensive language program, the "fun" dynamic is still there. I would say this was one of the most enjoyable and best experiences of my life, and I still keep in touch with most of my friends from the program.
Working abroad entails a boss, coworkers that you may or may not get along with due to cultural differences, and it may actually be harder to meet people of the same background. If you don't speak the local language fluently, there's a high likelihood you'll be first to blame if something goes wrong. You're also confronted with the fact that you have no idea how long you'll stay out here, as most of your friends will probably be back in the States. With that said, I would still say that working abroad has been one of the best experiences in my life, though by no means the most enjoyable. If anything, the hardship probably made me a better person by opening my eyes to the challenges immigrants face back in the States. Just don't go in thinking its necessarily going to be one big party.
1 internship abroad that
1 internship abroad that turned into full time...wouldnt change it for the world
I eat success for breakfast...with skim milk
olafenizer: Maybe I have a
Maybe I have a slightly different perspective on this topic because I grew up literally in the middle of a corn field and the extent of my childhood multicultural experience was talking to the 4 or 5 Hispanic kids in my grade whose parents worked at the canning factory during harvest season, but whenever I hear somebody ask whether they should study abroad as opposed to doing an internship or minor, I have to chuckle.
I chuckle because in my mind there is absolutely no reason why one wouldn’t do a study abroad. Maybe it’s because my hometown was 98% other white people and I wanted to get as far away from that as possible, but I really think study abroad should be required for every student. And not just because getting wasted in a foreign country and all the shenanigans that go along with that is really fun. There are actually real skills to be gained, skills you will never get from a paper pushing internship.
It starts by picking the right city to go to. For the love of God please don’t go to London. There are few things that are a bigger waste of time and money than going to another English-speaking country to do a study abroad. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Do a program that is conducted in a foreign language, or a straight up intensive language program in a developing country. Throw yourself into an unfamiliar environment. This is an expedition, not a vacation.
By jumping into a culture you’ve never experienced before, not only will you learn a ton about that other culture, but more importantly at the same time you’ll learn things about just as much about yourself- how you react and adapt, why you have certain perceptions and expectations.
Leave your laptop back in the States. The more you disconnect from your lifestyle in the US, the more you will be able to integrate into the new environment. How good of an experience can you have if you sit on your Facebook everyday chatting with your friends back home?
If you do it right, after the initial excitement wears off you won’t enjoy your experience. You’ll miss your family and friends. You’ll hate the fact that everybody speaks a different language than you. You’ll have a hard time understanding the different values system. More than anything you’ll just want to go home.
After a few weeks though you’ll start to feel better as you figure things out and become more settled in. You’ll become more comfortable getting around in the local language. By the time you have to go home, you’ll almost feel a little bit like you’re actually leaving home. It will feel good to go back to your family and friends, but you’ll feel like you’re leaving something behind.
In regard to exactly which semester to go abroad, I recommend doing it the summer after your freshman year or the fall of your sophomore year. If you have your heart set on doing finance internships in New York, studying abroad earlier in your college career not only gives you flexibility to pursue internships, but will also better prepare you for those internships by helping you understand how you operate in an unfamiliar environment.
Heck you could even do a semester abroad, come back for a year and then go abroad again for a year. Maybe that would cause you to delay graduation by a year, but you have your whole life ahead of you to sit in an office being someone else’s bitch. Spend the time you have now doing something that actually matters. Study abroad teaches not only helps you learn about a foreign culture, but helps you understand yourself.
Semester at Sea I heard is an absolute shitshow...But highly respectable.
Eventus stultorum magister.
Johnny
Maybe I have a slightly different perspective on this topic because I grew up literally in the middle of a corn field and the extent of my childhood multicultural experience was talking to the 4 or 5 Hispanic kids in my grade whose parents worked at the canning factory during harvest season, but whenever I hear somebody ask whether they should study abroad as opposed to doing an internship or minor, I have to chuckle.
I chuckle because in my mind there is absolutely no reason why one wouldn’t do a study abroad. Maybe it’s because my hometown was 98% other white people and I wanted to get as far away from that as possible, but I really think study abroad should be required for every student. And not just because getting wasted in a foreign country and all the shenanigans that go along with that is really fun. There are actually real skills to be gained, skills you will never get from a paper pushing internship.
It starts by picking the right city to go to. For the love of God please don’t go to London. There are few things that are a bigger waste of time and money than going to another English-speaking country to do a study abroad. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Do a program that is conducted in a foreign language, or a straight up intensive language program in a developing country. Throw yourself into an unfamiliar environment. This is an expedition, not a vacation.
By jumping into a culture you’ve never experienced before, not only will you learn a ton about that other culture, but more importantly at the same time you’ll learn things about just as much about yourself- how you react and adapt, why you have certain perceptions and expectations.
Leave your laptop back in the States. The more you disconnect from your lifestyle in the US, the more you will be able to integrate into the new environment. How good of an experience can you have if you sit on your Facebook everyday chatting with your friends back home?
If you do it right, after the initial excitement wears off you won’t enjoy your experience. You’ll miss your family and friends. You’ll hate the fact that everybody speaks a different language than you. You’ll have a hard time understanding the different values system. More than anything you’ll just want to go home.
After a few weeks though you’ll start to feel better as you figure things out and become more settled in. You’ll become more comfortable getting around in the local language. By the time you have to go home, you’ll almost feel a little bit like you’re actually leaving home. It will feel good to go back to your family and friends, but you’ll feel like you’re leaving something behind.
In regard to exactly which semester to go abroad, I recommend doing it the summer after your freshman year or the fall of your sophomore year. If you have your heart set on doing finance internships in New York, studying abroad earlier in your college career not only gives you flexibility to pursue internships, but will also better prepare you for those internships by helping you understand how you operate in an unfamiliar environment.
Heck you could even do a semester abroad, come back for a year and then go abroad again for a year. Maybe that would cause you to delay graduation by a year, but you have your whole life ahead of you to sit in an office being someone else’s bitch. Spend the time you have now doing something that actually matters. Study abroad teaches not only helps you learn about a foreign culture, but helps you understand yourself.
Semester at Sea I heard is an absolute shitshow...But highly respectable.
In retrospect, I wish I had done that for a semester. The sheer breadth of places you visit is astounding... you'll never have to travel ever again. Nor will you ever have as much time to do so.