You may have big plans for your post-graduate life and all the places you will travel and live….but let’s be realistic here. After college, you’ll start to get used to that full-time paycheck. Maybe you’ll settle down, get a dog, get married and have children, and maybe you’ll buy a house and have to pay your mortgage every month. How are you going to leave your job and that nice paycheck and go travel for extended periods of time? Sure, since most companies have that extremely generous policy of two whole weeks of paid vacation each year, you might be able to use one of those weeks to spend time in another country, but it will be very difficult to go for longer.
College is perhaps the easiest time in your life to live abroad and experience another culture. While in college, students have the flexibility to go abroad and still gain the credits they need to graduate. So remember, the time is NOW – there is no LATER!
In addition to living in a different culture, study abroad may give you the opportunity to travel to new locations. For example, students studying in Australia or New Zealand often find that they can get cheap tickets to Thailand or Japan and travel there during breaks. There isn’t even one Japanese restaurant in Manhattan, KS, but you can get real Japanese sushi abroad. Students in Europe are able to take advantage of student airfares and train fares to see a variety of countries in the region. Go to Munich for Octoberfest, or Venice for Carnivale! Travel to France and Italy, and determine for yourself who makes the best pastries and has the best food!
We don’t want to imply that you don’t jump out of bed every morning when that alarm clock goes off, feeling full of excitement to go to class and learn whatever the professor has planned for you that day. Maybe you do. But imagine how much more exciting it is to learn in another country. While Kansas State is nowhere near an ocean, you can study marine biology in Australia.
Here’s a little test: What’s more interesting and fun in each learning situation?
Question 1: A) reading about French art in a textbook, or B) going with your art history class weekly to Parisian museums to see the actual artwork?
Question 2: A) Hearing a lecture about anthropological rituals practiced by the Masai in Kenya, or B) attending a Masai ritual marking a boy’s passage into manhood?
Question 3: A) Practicing ordering a gelato in Italian class at K-State, or B) actually ordering a gelato at an Italian gelateria?
Did you pass the test? If you chose A in each situation, then study abroad may not be for you. If you chose B, get thee to the study abroad office immediately!
Many of you have probably already been thinking about the fact that globalization is here to stay, and you’ve prepared yourself for the job market by becoming fluent in a language and knowledgeable about one or more foreign cultures. Maybe you’ve already traveled abroad extensively. You say you haven’t done this? Don’t panic, there’s still time! Studying abroad will help you become more marketable in today’s competitive job market.
Imagine you’re an employer looking at job applicants for your company. You want an employee who can cope with new experiences and take risks, who is sensitive to cultural differences, and who can successfully travel abroad to work with clients. Who are you going to hire, a K-State student that spent all four years in Manhattan, Kansas, and stayed on campus in the summers delivering pizza for Gumby’s? Or a student who has spent time studying abroad, perhaps even learning a foreign language?
The next time you’re in your largest class, look around and imagine yourself competing on the job market with your classmates. Some of them may be straight-A students or leaders of volunteer groups, but only a few of them will have study abroad experience on their resumes. Studying abroad can help distinguish you on the job market and make you valuable to an employer.