Coming back to campus after a two-month break can be difficult for anyone, but for the students returning from all over the world, it can take a while to get back into the swing of things.
Lauren Weil ’19 is experiencing this firsthand. She traveled overseas for the first time to Canterbury, England and spent fall term studying at Canterbury Christ Church University. Her time there was much different than at North Central College, where she is leaning toward a business major in either marketing or accounting.
“I had a lot more free time than I do here since the classes are set up differently. We would meet for an hour-long lecture and for an hour-long seminar each week. The only assignment was a paper due at the end of the term,” said Weil.
Two hours of class each week with only one assignment sounds like a dream – especially when you have so much free time to travel between countries and experience many different cultures. However, being so used to this schedule in the fall made returning to the fast-paced classes at NCC in the winter more difficult.
“Since I have been back I have already had multiple assignments due along with a quiz. I am trying to get into the flow of organizing my time,” Weil said.
Adjusting to life back on campus will take time, especially for students who experienced culture shock– a feeling of disorientation caused by being subjected to an unfamiliar culture, way of life, or set of attitudes. The sudden and drastic change in environment, both physically and socially, forces adjustments that are harder to shake upon returning home.
Photo by Brittany Schultz
Terra Johnson ’18, majoring in psychology and Spanish with a minor in art, traveled to Costa Rica on a whim. She had a few requirements – a group program, low cost, and something related to her studies. However, that wasn’t the only reason she went.
“I wanted to study abroad to learn independence and explore. While the academic side is important, I wanted to broaden my own understanding of the world,” said Johnson.
This was Johnson’s first time leaving the U.S., and she went into the trip with an open mind. However, when she arrived, it was as though she was “thrown into the country and their way of life without any explanation or advice.”
Fortunately, her host family was eager to help. One of the biggest cultural differences she noticed was their passion for family, and how even strangers were treated as such. The other major differences she found were the focus on male dominance, a lack of punctuality (referred to as “Tico Time”), and a love of the U.S.
“They think the United States is the best place on Earth, even if they haven’t been there,” Johnson said.
With all of these changes, Johnson found adjusting to her new lifestyle difficult. The most challenging thing to adapt to, common among students traveling abroad, was the language barrier.
“The first night in Costa Rica, I remember thinking to myself, ‘Why am I here? This is going to be impossible.’ I had already experienced more Spanish in one day than I had in my entire life. It was everywhere. I went into the country knowing how to greet someone and ask where the bathroom was. Anything more and I had tears in my eyes because I had no idea what to do or say.”
As she got acclimated to her surroundings, Costa Rica became a place where she could fall in love with her experiences – though not the country itself.
“I didn’t fall in love with Costa Rica like I thought I would. I fell in love with my first host family, Juaquin and Fransisca, I fell in love with the people who worked at my school. I fell in love with the connections I made with the other students. I learned about myself and the world. I returned home a different person for having studied abroad. Maybe Costa Rica wasn’t the place for me, but it opened the door to travel in the future,” Johnson said.
Life back in the U.S. has also been difficult to adjust to. It has gone well for Johnson so far, but she is still waiting for it to sink in: “It all seemed so surreal. I had been away from home for months, and it was over and done. I was glad to come home, but I felt the indescribable feeling someone has when they say goodbye to someone whom they may not see for a while.”
Both Weil and Johnson were gone for an entire term. Not all study abroad trips have to be this long, and they don’t even need to be for academic reasons – sometimes it is nice to just get away for a while.
Graphic design major Kyle Novak ’17 spent two weeks traveling Italy, primarily because it was the only trip option related to his major. Though he didn’t have any other choices, he was not upset.
“It could have been anywhere. I just wanted to get out of the country for the first time,” said Novak.
While the differences were apparent, adjusting to life in all four cities – Naples, Orvieto, Florence, and Rome – was not a problem. “Everything is basically the same as it is at home, just with a different language,” Novak said.
When asked about the cultural differences between Italy and the U.S., he was quick to point out that it is easy to be spotted as a tourist, and that the locals are “definitely less friendly to foreigners.”
He also found that it was considered disrespectful to break the tip in a restaurant. Everyone would pool their money together and pay on one check, unlike here in the U.S. Another difference was virtually all of the Italian food: “everything there was of a significantly higher quality, almost nothing was processed.”
After 20 hours of traveling from Italy to Philadelphia to Chicago, he realized that it was more difficult to adjust to life back home than it was in any Italian city. “Coming back was a lot harder than going there. The jet lag really affected my sleeping schedule.”
Despite this, Novak wants to return to Italy, and plans to travel Europe again.
All three students enjoyed their time abroad, and would recommend that other students try it as well. They collectively believe that being away from all that you know gives you the chance to be more adventurous, to try new things and challenge yourself in ways that you never thought possible.
It is a cliche that traveling abroad will alter your perspective on life, but for many college students, this statement rings true. The opportunity to live in a different country during your college years allows you to gain new experiences that will open your eyes to the world around you. Whether you are abroad for two weeks, one term, or an entire academic year, your view on the world will be changed forever.
