Dan Schryer
Staff Writer
The Office of International Programs does well to advertise these unique opportunities to the student body. Certain courses even allot time in their schedules to have a representative from the office describe to the class the benefits of studying abroad.
“I had always wanted to study abroad,” said junior Jack Ryan. “I’ve heard only good things about it, everybody loves the program, so I knew it would be a good fit.” Ryan chose to study at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, an opportunity that placed him over 3,600 miles away from home.
Studying abroad offers students the chance to flex their adventurous side, as junior Charlie Miller did. “I wanted to expand my horizons and do something I’ve never done before,” explained Miller, who studied in Sweden during this past fall term. “I had heard that the biggest regret people had when they left college was that they never studied abroad.”
Senior Marissa Holaway had similar motivations for traveling to Pune, India for her part of the program. “I love travelling and learning about new cultures, so I knew that studying abroad was something I wanted to do,” said Holaway. “I knew I wanted to go somewhere that was unique and that I might not get another opportunity to go to, and the program in India offered such a rich learning experience for the culture…it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
“I was kind of worried about being the ‘loud American’ and being alienated, but as soon as I landed all of those worries just washed away,” commented Miller on his arrival in Sweden.
As with any visit abroad, students came back with an expanded collection of personal anecdotes and exhilarating stories of their travels. “It’s hard to really capture the full experience because everything was different, from the clothes you wear to the climate to the language,” said Holaway of India. “Every day was something new and every day was exciting.”
Still, every journey has its end, and with it comes the dual emotions of sadness and relief.
“I was ready to come home, one of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to all of the friends I had made over there because we weren’t really sure when we would ever see each other again,” remarked Ryan. “But I was ready to come home and see my family and get back to North Central.”
Haloway expressed a similar sense of the mixed emotions that signaled her impending departure. “Because the conditions were so much different than what I was used to, there were definitely some things that I was excited to come home for,” Haloway said. “But I was also really sad, especially during the last few days where I was packing and saying goodbye… There was so much to learn about (India) that I wanted to stay and still have some of my questions answered.”
Others had a more difficult time preparing for the plane ride back. “I was pretty excited to come home, but as the day came closer and closer that excitement went away more and more,” said Miller. “In the end I was more scared about going home than I initially was about coming to Sweden… I thought, ‘will I think about all the things back home like I did before?’”
With so much emphasis being placed on the initial arrival and subsequent experiences of living in a foreign country, it’s easy to forget that assimilation back into one’s native culture can be difficult after such a lengthy period abroad.
“In India, it’s really a taboo to throw away food, so when you’re done eating you would offer to share it instead,” said Haloway. “I found myself still doing that at home and my family and friends would get a kind of confused.”
“It still is pretty weird being here,” explained Miller. “I miss my friends in Europe, and it just starts to set in that life’s slowing down again, which really gives me more of a drive to go back and do new things and meet new people.”
On an instinctual level, you just know things are a little different,” continued Miller. “You have to get accustomed to the environment again… I’m just rationalizing and processing the fact that that was then and this is now.”
But, adjustment issues aside, one sentiment was unanimous. “I would definitely recommend studying abroad,” said Ryan. “There’s so much learning that happens out of the classroom.”
Though the transition from country to country may be a stark one, studying abroad undoubtedly has its benefits, helping students to expand not only their education, but their sense of identity. . “I really recommend that everybody who has the opportunity to study abroad should take it,” declared Miller. “At the very least get out of your normal routine every once in a while and break the mold.”
