2008 Woodie Awards
Reflections on a Semester Abroad: Pros and Cons
Rebecca Kolberg
Issue date: 2/9/07 Section: Opinion
After living in Geneva, Switzerland during the fall semester, I have spent the last few weeks readujusting to life at Stevens and reflecting on my time away. In my opinion, studying abroad was such a positive experience that the pros far outweighed the cons, but I would like to be honest about what was hard for me, as well as what was priceless.
PROS:
1. Freedom to Explore-
Study abroad requires some work, but more importantly, it gives you the opportunity to travel. Take advantage of your foreign home base to go on excursions. I used a Eurail pass to visit eight different countries and 15 different cities. Students living in Australia have taken excursions to Fiji, New Zealand, Japan, and Malaysia. Travel becomes addicting - on Monday morning you immediately feel compelled to plan the next weekend's adventures.
2. Fostering Independence and Building Leadership-
Study abroad provides you with plenty of situations that test your preparedness and self-reliance. You often have to get information in a foreign language when you are alone and you have to find transportation connections and mind personal belongings.
At the same time, you may also be a part of large-group travel. Traveling by yourself may teach you to deal with loneliness, but group travel challenges you with the frustration of trying to get eight people to decide on a restaurant.
You will learn to plan, read a map, familiarize yourself with public transportation systems and ride them to stops of which you can not even pronounce the name. You have to watch the time and be punctual for the sake of the other group members. At some point, you will realize how diverse peoples' ideas and preferences can be, even in a small group. You learn to be courteous, open and willing to compromise.
3. Communication and Foreign Language Skills-
I spoke French in Geneva after having been away from it for three years. Jumping back in was not terribly difficult and if you pick a program that suits your language interests, you gain so much more from the experience. Not only is deciphering menus and street names easier, you will also be able to laugh at the humor in advertisements and on television shows as well as connect much more easily with the culture. Culture and language are so inextricably linked.
PROS:
1. Freedom to Explore-
Study abroad requires some work, but more importantly, it gives you the opportunity to travel. Take advantage of your foreign home base to go on excursions. I used a Eurail pass to visit eight different countries and 15 different cities. Students living in Australia have taken excursions to Fiji, New Zealand, Japan, and Malaysia. Travel becomes addicting - on Monday morning you immediately feel compelled to plan the next weekend's adventures.
2. Fostering Independence and Building Leadership-
Study abroad provides you with plenty of situations that test your preparedness and self-reliance. You often have to get information in a foreign language when you are alone and you have to find transportation connections and mind personal belongings.
At the same time, you may also be a part of large-group travel. Traveling by yourself may teach you to deal with loneliness, but group travel challenges you with the frustration of trying to get eight people to decide on a restaurant.
You will learn to plan, read a map, familiarize yourself with public transportation systems and ride them to stops of which you can not even pronounce the name. You have to watch the time and be punctual for the sake of the other group members. At some point, you will realize how diverse peoples' ideas and preferences can be, even in a small group. You learn to be courteous, open and willing to compromise.
3. Communication and Foreign Language Skills-
I spoke French in Geneva after having been away from it for three years. Jumping back in was not terribly difficult and if you pick a program that suits your language interests, you gain so much more from the experience. Not only is deciphering menus and street names easier, you will also be able to laugh at the humor in advertisements and on television shows as well as connect much more easily with the culture. Culture and language are so inextricably linked.
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