The Impact of Going Abroad

Hearing from people who returned from being abroad they always described the ways they grew and re-invented themselves. To me this always felt very abstract, no one described the actual ways they were different after being abroad in a way that made sense to me. So what do we mean when we say going abroad changed us? Here’s what I mean:

I’ve finished my program but I haven’t returned to the United States yet, so I can’t completely speak from experience here, but when I get home I expect the most noticeable difference will be that little things will feel much easier. I think that’s the change a lot of people are referencing, once you’ve been so far outside your comfort zone day-to-day life at home feels effortless. The metaphor I would use is exercising with resistance bands; the movements you’re doing are harder with the resistance but when you take them off your muscles feel lighter and doing that movement without anything pushing against you feels easy. Just like how everyday things in a foreign environment are harder, with added challenges like a language barrier or cultural norms outside of what you’re used to; so when you get that comfort back things that used to require effort seem smaller in comparison. 

So I think being abroad makes a lot of people feel braver but there’s more to it than that. I also think being abroad changes your sense of empathy. People, no matter where they’re from or what situation they’re in, are really all pretty similar at heart. I’ve always known this in a hypothetical sense but being here observing people puts physical evidence in front of my face. I’ve heard the same inflections in peoples voices when they’re speaking different languages, and noticed a lot of the same dynamics and personalities of people I know at home on Parisians. I’m not saying that cultural differences don’t exist, but things that seemed really foreign to me at first actually looked really similar when I took the time to observe them properly.

Everyone takes away something different from being abroad and there can be a lot of joy in discovering these things for yourself. I knew for a long time before I studied abroad that there were things I could only learn far away from home. At the same time, it’s not reasonable to expect to come home from being abroad a totally different person. Success is different for everyone, it might be newfound confidence or just a better awareness of your own capability. Going abroad might inspire you to move to a new city or it might teach you what you value in your living situation. Even those things that seem little can last you a long time and really become a part of you. Being abroad has made me want to be kinder. It’s made me want to give directions to people who look lost on the street because I know how that feels. It’s made me think about the pointless divisions we put between people. There is still so much world out there to see and so many things that those new places can teach me but I also think I’ll learn a lot going back home with all the perspective I’ve gained.