Jan 03 2008
Overview of Studying Abroad
I’ll be focusing primarily on high school study abroad, which is a little rarer than college study abroad, and slightly different. For year-long homestays, the kind of exchange I’m doing, you live with one to four host families, generous people willing to open their homes to complete strangers, for reasons yet unknown to man (actually there are reasons aplenty, but that’s a whole other post). Besides that, you’re basically a normal kid, attending school (in the language of your host country), doing homework, and hopefully chilling…and partying!
Which brings me to my next point: why study abroad? I tend to say “Why not?” when I don’t feel like answering, but there are really endless (and endlessly) cliché reasons. Here’s a quote from the Intrax Study Abroad brochure that neatly sums them up:
“Studying abroad,…you will have a life-changing experience that will help you succeed in school and every day life. You will have the opportunity to discover a new country, immerse yourself in a new culture, become more independent, improve your language skills and make life-long friends.”
My mom, ever the realistic one, nicely pointed out to me after reading marketing lines like this that she didn’t actually feel that changed from going to college in Germany. But those who choose this path are fearless romantics, and we refuse to listen to such joy killers. Anyhow, these are the typical cited reasons for going, and each person (hopefully) has more specific and personal motives.
But really, it’s just easier to say, “Why not?” and make other people think for themselves.
