Using Study Abroad to Explore Your Passions
My passion is traveling, I love to visit new countries and learn about the culture, the language and most importantly the people that live there. I have traveled to 35 countries and I am just getting started. I was fortunate growing up to have parents that valued travel, that made sacrifices to ensure my brothers and I saw the world and always supported what we wanted to do—whether that be volunteering in Colombia for a few months, dropping everything to travel or studying abroad. Having parents that support my passions has empower me to seek more opportunities.
The ability to travel was the main reason I chose to participate on the Student Exchange Program at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland – a main hub for Ryanair. While abroad I made it a goal to travel to places I had never been before. I went to Scotland, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Greece and Morocco, as well as some places I had been before. I learned the history of the places I went and definitely enjoyed the food. I think I grew a lot the past semester as a result of my travels. I went to places where most people don’t think to travel and to places that pushed me as far outside of my comfort zone as I had ever been—which is where growth happens. An example of how I grew during my travels was in my thoughts for others. When traveling with others, I had to learn to make decisions and choices that benefited the group and that addressed the desires of the group and not just myself. The study abroad opportunity that Fisher provided for me, and even supported, allowed me to live my passion and for that I will always be grateful. And the best part about studying abroad is now I have friends from all over the world to visit!!! My passion for traveling was only quenched for the moment, I will always be planning my next trip.
To summarize, here is a list of some of the skills I learned abroad:
- independence
- adaptation
- cultural intelligence
- collaborating with individuals from high and low context countries
- self awareness
I think it is really important that students have goals for their abroad experience - personal goals, experiential goals, and academic goals. But I think it is just as important that students be open to change and experiences they couldn't have imagined. The best thing about studying abroad are the things you don't expect, the friends you don't know you are going to meet. My biggest piece of advice for students preparing to go abroad is balance. Have goals, but don't let them put you in a box. Be prepared but don't become paralyzed by the unexpected.
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