To go or not to go: That is the study abroad question

Imagine sitting in a quaint café in Italy, sipping on a delicious local beverage while writing a paper for a class. Or maybe lounging on a beach in Australia, with the warm sun beating down and your class textbook in hand. Even those two examples can sound enticing to anyone.

That is the reality of a student studying abroad in another country. The idea of a unique cultural immersion, while also completing necessary credits, can be the best of both worlds.

Penn State offers over 300 study abroad programs for students basically sending you anywhere you’d ever want to go (although who would ever want to leave Happy Valley).

Alice Greider, a junior majoring in international politics, history, and global and international studies, went on an IES: Francophone studies trip to Rabat, Morocco in Summer 2015. She said it was an experience she will never forget, no matter how many ups and downs.

“Although we were there on a French program, some of our host families barely spoke French, so we had to learn some basic Moroccan Arabic in order to communicate, or just get really good at charades,” Alice said.

“On the bright side, now I understand a lot more about intercultural communication as well as some Arabic!”

The unique cultural immersion can be intimidating to students in different countries, but it is a unique challenge to take on.

“I think I became a lot braver and more confident in encountering the unknown,” Alice said. “Essentially everything was new to us, so exploring not only our new home city but also all the other places on the weekends really challenged me to not be afraid of the unexpected.”

Alice was able to travel a lot on the weekends, even with a rigorous class schedule. She traveled to nearby countries and regions, like Senegal, Spain and the Sahara Desert, using the easily accessible railway.

For Penn State students, the options for countries are endless. There are over 50 destinations offered in the travel abroad program. Thailand, Japan, Norway, Spain, New Zealand and Tanzania are a few examples of different programs that run across 6 continents.

In other cases, the excited emotions weren’t present for some students. Christy N., a junior majoring in political science and anthropology, went on a summer immersion program to France without the highest of hearts for her upcoming traveling adventure.

“I was anxious to immerse myself into a culture head-on,” she said. “I lived with a host family and all my classes were in French, so the language barrier got really tough at times. I had to go to my room and just binge watch English TV shows to keep myself sane.”

Christy ended up loving the program despite the hardships with the language. She also thought money was going to be an issue, but it was quite the opposite.

“I was worried that the trip was going to add up fast with expenses because I was doing a summer program,” said Christy. “I did end up spending a lot, but the Global Abroad office actually gives like 90% of students travel grants to fund some aspects of their program, so that was nice.”

Not only can studying abroad kill two birds with one stone, the social experience is one that most students never forget. While studying abroad, you are constantly meeting new people and making friendships that can last a lifetime.

“I’m still in close touch with my host family and some of the friends I made,” Christy said.

While it can be a great experience, traveling abroad just doesn’t fit in the schedule for everyone.

Kirenjot S., a junior majoring in health policy and administration, did not find the idea of studying abroad appealing.

“It can look like fun, but personally it never really interested me. I have so much going on at Penn State that I can’t really leave for a huge chunk of time anyway,” said Kirenjot. “I love going to the football games in the fall, I participate in THON in the spring, and I have internships in the summer. So it just won’t work out for me.”

Debuting a study abroad experience on one’s résumé can be very beneficial in marketing to numerous employers. The skills you can acquire while studying abroad, whether social or educating, can be applied in almost any job setting.

“I was able to network and build relationships with a lot of people from my study abroad experience, whether while I was abroad or after finishing my year,” said Jugaad Singh, a graduate student pursing a masters in consumer psychology and sociology. He took classes in Mongolia for a year in 2013 through an alternate travel abroad program.

There are other experiences, though, that should be left for icebreakers or parties.

“There are always ups and downs when you are traveling,” said Jugaad. “Mongolia was very interesting, but other times it got weird. When visiting a tribe, the shamans included me in a ritual, and I had to drink questionable homemade alcohol out of dead animal skulls. That was insane.”

It may be a financial commitment and require you to give up the typical semester at school, the overwhelming response of those who studied abroad was that they didn’t regret it.