Why Study Abroad?

1. Personal Growth

• Students consistently report that they return from their time abroad with new-found confidence, maturity, and self-awareness. As a unique combination of education and adventure, our international programs encourage responsibility, teach students to thrive outside of their home environments, and are often a source of personal inspiration for years to come.
  

2. Global Perspective

• True global citizenship requires that you get out into the world and hear foreign languages, taste new foods, and see other cultures firsthand.
  

3. Cultural Intelligence

• Cultural intelligence is the ability to adapt to and be comfortable in other cultures— an essential skill for success in our increasingly globalized world
  

4. Global Citizenship

• "I am a citizen, not of Athens or Greece, but of the world” said Socrates around 400BC.   Global citizenship is founded on awareness and respectful of other cultures.  It all begins with the first step abroad, as students learn to take a genuine interest in the people and cultures outside of their home country.  A global citizen is someone who, although belonging to a certain culture, is aware and respectful of other cultures, and can easily adapt and feel comfortable abroad.   
  

• “No one returns home from a journey quite the same as they were before they set off.” --Beatrice Schlag
• "Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends." -- Maya Angelou
• “Any and all travel has educational potential, whatever its inspiration and purpose. What and how much is learned, however, depends greatly on how open the traveler is to what the road offers.” --William Hoffa

• "I hear and I forget.  I see and I remember.  
   I do and I understand" --Confucius
  

Skills you develop traveling:

• Global awareness of important issues
• Greater perspective on how others live, leading to humility and generosity,  traits which are attractive to potential employers.
• Teamwork - as you travel the world, you learn to work with others
• Decision making - traveling solo in different parts of the world, you learn how to make decisions quickly in unfamiliar circumstances.
• Communication  - what better way to develop your communication skills than by encountering new cultures, languages and communication styles. As you learn phrases for surviving daily life in other countries, you will develop a talent for how to learn languages, and how to communicate non-verbally with people from other cultures.
• Cross cultural leadership - as you travel the world, your skills in cross cultural communication and leadership will be tested and refined.
• Money management, budgeting, planning - travel will improve your financial skills as you learn to live within your budget, plan for future travels, negotiate hotels, transportation and more.
• Negotiation skills - traveling the world on a budget will force you to become a great negotiator, a skill that will benefit your career long after the trip is done.
• Adaptability - While traveling you will need to learn to be flexible and accept changes quickly, which are important skills to develop to an ever-innovating world.
• Interpersonal skills - solo travel is lonely if you don't quickly develop a knack for interacting with people from different cultures.   
• Self reliance, independence, confidence, initiative, and responsibility are all skills you will develop while traveling

Why Study Abroad?

Students perspectives:  

• "50 Things I Know from Studying Abroad" written Megan Lee 

Benefits of Studying Abroad - an interesting Survey:

  Academic Attainment

• 87% of a recent academic survey claimed that studying abroad influenced subsequent educational experiences
• 86% Said that it reinforced commitment to foreign language study
• 80% Reported an enhanced interest in academic study
• 52% Attained graduate degrees; of those, 15% received a Ph.D, Ed.D, JD, or medical degree

  Cultural Development

• 98% Reported that the study abroad experience helped them to better understand their own cultural values and biases
• 94% Stated that the experience continues to influence their interactions with people from different cultures
• 90% Said that studying abroad influenced them to seek out a greater diversity of friends

  Career Impact

• 76% Reported that they acquired skill sets while studying abroad that influenced their career path
• 62% Said that studying abroad ignited an interest in a career direction pursued after the experience
• 48% Stated that they have worked internationally or participated in volunteer activities since studying abroad

  Personal Growth

• 97% Reported that studying abroad served as a catalyst for increased maturity
• 96% Indicated that it increased self confidence
• 95% Stated that it has had a lasting impact on their world view
• 89% Said studying abroad enabled them to better tolerate ambiguity

       Read more: "The Benefits of Studying Abroad" from IES Abroad. 

Why Study Abroad?

Perhaps Rick Steves said it best:  "I believe that our national security rests upon the foundation of a well-educated electorate with a broad and sophisticated worldview. 

"Ninety-six percent of humanity lives outside our borders — and we risk being left in the dust if we don’t know how to effectively engage the world. It’s critical to deal smartly with the emerging economic and military powers of China and India, and we must better understand the intricacies of Islam.”

"There's a lot of fear in our society today. Students who travel learn that fear is for people who don’t get out much. And they learn that the flip side of fear is understanding. Travelers learn to celebrate, rather than fear, the diversity on our planet. Learning in a different culture and place allows us to see our own challenges in sharp contrast, and with more clarity, as we observe smart people in other lands dealing with similar issues."...

"Our world is one big, rapidly evolving marketplace. Employers crave graduates who are flexible, multilingual and comfortable in multicultural settings. Study abroad sharpens these skills and helps keep American workers competitive.  

"Americans who want our next generation to be hands-on with the world — grappling constructively with international partners against daunting challenges that ignore political borders, working competitively in a globalized economy, and having enthusiasm rather than anxiety about other cultures and approaches to persistent problems — can get on board with the movement to help our students get a globalized education.  

"... get a passport and see the world as a classroom. It’s good for America. And it’s fun."

    Rick Steves: Study abroad is necessity, not luxury 

Benefits of learning languages:

"SPEAKING two languages rather than just one has obvious practical benefits in an increasingly globalized world. But in recent years, scientists have begun to show that the advantages of bilingualism are even more fundamental than being able to converse with a wider range of people. Being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter. It can have a profound effect on your brain, improving cognitive skills not related to language and even shielding against dementia in old age."

"The bilingual experience improves the brain’s so-called executive function — a command system that directs the attention processes that we use for planning, solving problems and performing various other mentally demanding tasks. These processes include ignoring distractions to stay focused, switching attention willfully from one thing to another and holding information in mind — like remembering a sequence of directions while driving." source: NY Times