When two people or more from different backgrounds share ideas, stories, feelings, and customs, it is called cultural exchange. It brings numerous benefits to individuals. They broaden their perspectives, foster personal growth, and embrace diverse cultures. Kids should learn about different cultures at an early stage. That’s why schools have an obligation to organize cultural exchange. That entails cultural sharing events, and visiting cultural venues, like museums that exhibit artifacts from different cultures all around the world. However, the most important cultural exchange schools can make is organizing trips to other countries.
In this article, we will discuss the benefits of student exchange programs. We will present some concrete experiences from students who have traveled abroad and met various cultures.
Educational Benefits of Traveling Abroad
Personal growth
Traveling as a student will lead you to personal growth. In the first place, you will build up independence. You might be surprised what you are able of and how efficient you can be. Staying in a foreign country will help you get to know yourself better. You will adapt to diverse situations and solve problems you have never faced before. For example, you will find a homework helper online. That could be an online writing service that gathers professional writers. These professionals would be glad to help you with your homework in a foreign language.
Diverse culture appreciation
Students who experience multicultural surroundings become aware of different lifestyles and other cultures. Meeting diverse cultures helps develop social-emotional skills, such as empathy and open-mindedness. Students, who try to overcome all the differences between them and their host, achieve cultural understanding. That means they fully understand someone’s background, values, and beliefs.
You will dive into diverse cultures if you interact with locals and try domestic food. You should visit all the places your host recommended to you. Attend local festivals and events and visit the national and other museums and historical sites. All these actions will bring you closer to the foreign country you are in.
Learning a new language
One of the tips on student traveling is learning a foreign language. There is no better way of learning a new language than speaking it with locals. You should use this opportunity when traveling overseas. You can also attend language courses to face more formal education. However, speaking with locals, listening to domestic music, and watching local TV shows will help you polish your language skills. Try to use a dictionary as little as you can and make an effort to explain what you want.
Stories and insights from students who have traveled abroad
Seeing your home country in a new light
Meet Suci, an Indonesian student who just finished his Master’s degree in Sweden. Studying abroad had taught him to understand his home country better. He realizes that no country in the world is perfect. And he saw his home country from different angles and in a new light. Suci missed some things from Indonesia living in Sweden. For example, he always complained about the heat, but in Sweden, he felt the real Nordic cold.
He also started to see traveling in a new way. He learned the importance of hospitality and tourism management. And he realized that you can find a whole new way of life when you really take time to understand the country you are in.
Traveling all around the foreign country
Allison attends Monmouth University in the USA. She used the summer program and spent her summer in Italy. That experience helped her to step out of her comfort zone and broadened her horizons. Studying abroad all by herself made her feel as if she had become a grown-up. She traveled all around Italy and even visited Croatia. People were fascinated by American culture as much as she was with their background and customs. Now, she knows what she is capable of and knows how to deal with different situations.
Making incredible friendships
Caitlin, a girl from the USA, studied abroad in England. She said that every day in London was a new adventure, whether she was with a group of friends she met or solo. She was amazed that even walking through the library was a cultural experience. She enjoyed listening to students talk in different languages and all sorts of accents. She is proud that she has friends all over the USA, but also from England, Germany, Ireland, Austria, France, and Scotland. Caitlin claims this was a life-changing experience.
Organization is crucial
Sinead studied in Australia and she talks about her amazing experience traveling up to Cairns in Queensland and seeing the Great Barrier Reef. She is excited because she snorkeled and sky-dived over it! She also climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Sinead encourages all students to travel overseas. She said that they shouldn’t worry about the cost and all the classes they have to take. It is possible to plan your trip properly and it’s not hard to organize.
Motivating to work even harder
Student traveling made Michael a new man. He said that the man, who left the USA in August, was not the one who returned in December. Trip to Europe motivated him to work even harder for his degree and own a job that would enable him to travel and live a life one country at a time. From that moment, he decided to live his life, challenge himself, and grow as a person. He would never stop discovering more in our vast world. He said that home is not where he was born, but where the adventure takes him.
Conclusion
You should also try to combine studying and traveling. This could lead you to become a digital nomad and maybe make your travel blog. As we saw, there are numerous benefits of studying overseas. Besides learning a new language and becoming open-minded to diverse cultures, you also develop personal growth. We showed you several stories about studying abroad. All of these college students learned valuable lessons and agreed that this was a life-changing experience
