Volume 1 Article 9
4 Amazing Reasons To Study Abroad in College
Thursday April 20, 2023
travel
Going to college was a fresh start for me. For the first time, I would no longer be playing soccer while in school. I knew not playing soccer was going to be an adjustment, but was excited for what was ahead. With having a life that did not revolved around soccer, I was able to branch out. Being able to be involved in different organizations and activities, and have opportunities to to things such as study abroad.
Study abroad, for me, was probably one of the best parts about college. The experience was something unreal and I was able to meet so many cool people. To this day, I am still friends with some of those who I studied abroad with. Now I understand that study abroad is not for everyone, but I recommend that everyone at least try it once. At my university there were many different programs that ranged from being 3 weeks to a semester. There were also programs that the university led and programs from third parties that they worked with.
With so many different option, I bet that there is a program for everyone! If you still are not convinced, I have come up with what I found to be my top reasons to study abroad. And for a little background, I studied abroad twice while in college. One of the programs I did was for 4 weeks to Peru and it was a program through the university. In this program, I was with professors from my university the whole time. As for my second study abroad program, I did that one through a third party program that my university works with. For this program, I went to Barcelona, Spain and was there for two months while I took a class and worked at a tech start-up. Both of these programs were different, but were still great in their own way.
So with that, here are my 4 reasons as to why you should study abroad in college:
Reason 1: You Build a Community
Although I listed these reasons in no particular order, I will say that developing a community while studying abroad will make for an experience you will never forget. I was lucky on my program in Spain that I was able to build a community since the program was comprised of students from different universities. The girls that I lived with were super sweet and was lucky to build friendships with them. Building these friendships helped make my time in Spain an absolute blast. Also, going into the program I had no trips planned to other countries since I did not have anyone to travel with. But after two weeks of being in Spain, I had my first holiday and went with one of my roommates to Amsterdam. To this day we are still friends!
One of the greatest memories I have while studying abroad was when I was living with my host family in Peru. For the first week of my program, I was staying with a host family before being with my group for the rest of the trip. While with my host family, Peru was playing in the men’s World Cup. Which if anyone knows anything about soccer, this was a big deal to Peru. Everyone would stop what they were doing for these games. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the game because of class activities, but at the end of the day I went home to my host family who threw a BBQ for the game.
Peru did not win the game, but that did not stop the party from continuing on. When I got home there was plenty of food to eat and the music was going. After I was done eating, my host family was convinced they could teach me how to dance. Even though I had no rhythm, they did not care and just enjoyed getting to share this experience with me. It was a fun night that I will remember forever.
Reason 2: Experiences That Push You Out of Your Comfort Zone
I have always had a passion for traveling to new places and experiencing new thing. So study abroad was a no brainer when going to college. Studying abroad was my way of exploring my passion and getting out of my comfort zone. Which I am beyond grateful for because I have been able to do some cool things. Some of the coolest things I have done are climb to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain, attend the Barcelona Beach Festival, see Vance Joy in concert, and staying in the Amazon Rainforest.
The list is only of some of the highlights, which I would say climbing to the top of Machu Picchu Mountain was the coolest. So for those who visit Machu Picchu, I highly recommend that you add the buy-on for climbing the mountain. I will say though climbing to the top was harder than I thought and different from previous mountains have I climbed. After two hours, I finally made it to the top with minimal hiking preparation and the view was breathtaking. So my advice would be to do some preparation and not to giving up on yourself. There were so many points on the way to the top where I wanted to quit. Once at the top, I was so happy that I did not give up and got to experience the view with my classmates.
Reason 3: You Are Able to Experience Other Countries
The two programs I did were different. For my program to Peru, it was structured and planned out by my university with set places and cities to go. It was great because I was able to experience so much, traveling from the coast to the Andes to the Amazon Rainforest. Although it was a great program for my first study abroad because of the structure, it did not allow for me to do my own travel. As for my program to Barcelona, it was completely different where I had so much freedom to travel. I was there for two months and had my weekends free.
Having my weekends free allowed for me to explore other countries and cities in Spain. Which traveling in Europe is similar to traveling to other states in the US. Except I would say that it is easier and cheaper to get around Europe than the US. On my weekends I was able to go to Granada, Amsterdam, and Rome. Getting to travel on the weekends was great because it allowed for me to explore more than Barcelona while I was in Spain. If you are studying abroad in Europe, take advantage of how easy it is to travel between European countries. So, do not be afraid to leave your comfort zone and explore, but make sure that you also spend time your base country.
Reason 4: Develop the Ability to Adapt to New Surroundings
One of the biggest learning curves was transportation. Going from having a car to not having a car is quite the difference. In the past I have had to use public transportation, but those times are far and few between. So, learning how public transportation works in the country you study abroad in is a must. On a side note depending on where you are UBER or Lyft is not a thing. Also, since those two ride shares are not common outside of the US, do not rely on taxis. Taking taxis every where will add up quickly.
While in Spain, my main way of transporting was by using their metro system. Barcelona’s metro system is pretty simple which is super helpful for travelers. I was able to understand which platform, line, and train I needed to be on super quick. Other ways to get around Barcelona is by taking the bus or walking. These are both great options, but found to take longer. Lastly, the amount of times I was in a taxi was minimal so it is definitely doable to get around the city with public transportation.
If you are in college, I highly recommend that you look into programs that your university offers or third parties that they partner with. There are so many programs out there, making it highly possible for everyone to find their program. Study abroad was a big part of college for me and I am so grateful for being able to have those experiences. There were so many great things that I was able to take away from study abroad and hope that I have convinced you of it.
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