Shana-Kay Hart, the Penn State School of Visual Arts Down Under student blogger, writes:
Shana-Kay in Australia
Before studying abroad, I was the student rolling my eyes at the clichéd responses my peers would offer after returning from their own international experiences. It would always go something like, “It was the best experience of my life,” “It changed my life,” or my favorite, “I became a new person.” What remained the same person-to-person however, was the overall belief that studying abroad is an invaluable and incomparable experience like no other. It wasn’t until I was able to study abroad myself that I finally joined the secret world of studying abroad and all that it entails. Where once I showed indifference, I now firmly and passionately advocate for the involvement in any study abroad experience for these following reasons:
- It Helps You Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
Stepping out of your comfort zone, and into the real world, and all that it has to offer will undoubtedly place you in a learning zone, and I believe some of my most cherished memories, experiences, and lessons occured in these types of environments. It is no surprise that studying abroad helps in this area because of the fact that you are completely outside the lines of your comfort zone and maybe even thousands of miles away from it! Abraham Maslow said it best: “You will either step forward into growth or back into safety.”
- You Will Understand The World Better
Once you dare to venture to parts of the world unknown to you, you begin to realize the similarities among the people you meet along the way. Through culture, food, dance, language, and art, it becomes more evident that we are all the same despite our geographic location, and that what unites us is greater than what separates us.
“One’s destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things.” – Henry Miller
- You Will Meet People Who Will Impact You Forever
Though this seems counter-intuitive to my last point, studying abroad allows you the opportunity to meet people who are different in almost every way possible: different areas of study, different ideologies and ways of thinking, different ages, and different backgrounds and experiences. All of these differences can help you grow as a person and change the way you think. This is bound to happen, and it truly is a beautiful thing when done in the right way.
As I continue to travel and be exposed to the many wonders of the world, I encounter more reasons to continue doing so.
