Without Borders

Studying in another country is a great challenge. Many students around the world have this great opportunity, but they give up.  There are many issues surrounding this "travel" before students accept or not. When they arrive in the host country, they will face problems. However, the students need to know that these problems are phases and they will be fine. Why do not accept? There is a world out there that they need to meet. This essay will try to encourage students to get out of their houses.

The unknown arouses curiosity but also generates fears. Megumi Kakogawa says in “Fears of International Students”: “Even though international students are interested in other countries, fear is an inevitable aspect of international lives when they begin studying in foreign countries.” James Madison University in Resources for International Students divides the adjustment process in four that he called “Phases of Adjustment”.

Summarizing, the first phase is called Honeymoon Phase. In this phase, students can feel glad because they are meeting new things and new people. The second Phase is called Culture Shock Phase. In this phase, the honeymoon has ended and students start to face academic and social problems. Many foreign students look for other foreign students to share their experiences and feelings. They can feel sad, confused, overwhelmed, isolated by cultural differences, angry or powerless to fix their social problems. The third Phase is the Recovery/ Negotiation Phase. In this phase, foreign students begin to interact more with local people. They are understanding and communicating more with the host country people.  The last and Fourth Phase is Autonomy/ Acceptance Phase. In this phase, the host country is not strange. Students are more comfortable with the new culture and new environment.

Therefore, in the adjustment process, foreign students will miss their family, and friends. According to the University Counseling & Testing Center at University of Oregon, it is common that international students feel homesick. They feel this way because of different food, different smells and people that they never have seen before. For some students this is the first time away from home. When living with their parents they can have many helpful ways to deal with difficult situations but this cannot be available to them now. As a result, the international students can feel that they are all alone with their problems and that there is no one to talk to. The Counseling Service of Brunel University said, “Leaving home, particularly if changing country, means taking on the challenge of separating from family, and starting a process of finding an independent identity in a less protected, less familiar sometimes larger world.”  

In addition, if the student is in a relationship, it is more difficult to accept an exchange program. Many people do not trust being away from their partner because they feeling afraid of betrayal, and missing them too. The students need to think that great opportunities are rare because study abroad is a great experience for personal development. Their parents will be proud of their courage and determination for a better professional future. Their significant other will also be proud of them, proud of their enrichment. Sometimes, this short time will be good for the strengthening of their relationship, sometimes they will break-up. The student will see that the distance is good so that he or she sees who is the important people in their life, and vice versa. Bad things will happen, and to stay far of their family, friends, and maybe girlfriend or boyfriend, is one of the bigger them. However, they will can to abuse of technology: Skype, Facebook; and they will get used to distance and the less they notice, they will already be coming home.

Another problem is the fear of new culture. However, Mark Tittley, who wrote a summary of “The Art of Crossing Cultures” in August 2000, says, “Cultural adjustment actually happens much more than we realize it. There is one culture at work and another at home – so we already have some skills that are needed to enter a new culture in another country”. After having lived a significant period within the host country, foreign students will find that they have become accustomed to the culture of their host country and will find themselves essentially able to behave in the manner of a local. 

Some advantages of being exchange students is that they will become familiar with the ways of life of people all around the world through meeting other exchange students. Besides, they will meet friends from all around the world. They will also meet tons of native friends in their exchange country that they will have a close relationship with for the rest of your life. The most valuable asset will be the knowledge acquired. Study abroad opens the mind's borders because the student see different ways to study, different cultures besides to know a new place.

In conclusion, travelling to another country has temporary problems but these problems will pass and a big experience will stay in their baggage. The advice that Robert Kohls says in his book is “Survival Kit for Overseas Living” also serves to exchange students: “throw yourself wholeheartedly into exploring the new culture and the new language. Consider the rewards you can get from these new opportunities … In negotiating the unfamiliar and uncharted territory of another culture, change and growth occur at deep levels, leaving you more competent, more self-assured, and more knowledgeable about yourself and about how the world works. Bon voyage!” (115).

Taynara Matos

Works Cited

Kakogawa, Megumi. “Fears of International Students”. Osaka College of Foreign Languages, Japan. 23 April 2008. Web 25 April 2014 <http://neovox.cortland.edu/archives/2008/04/fears_of_intern_1.html>

Resources & Self-Help. “Resources For International Students” James Madison University Counseling Center. Web 25 April 2014 < https://www.jmu.edu/counselingctr/resources/for-intl-students.shtml>

Davenport, Edel. “International Students” University of Oregon Counseling and Testing Center 2010 web 25 April 2014.
<https://counseling.uoregon.edu/dnn/Programs/SpecialPopulations/InternationalStudents/tabid/380/Default.aspx>

A summary of “The Art of Crossing Culture”, by Craig Storti, Intercultural Press, Maine, 1990. Complied by Mark Tittley in August 2000 web 25 April 2014 <http://www.programkontoret.se/Global/program/euroguidance/artrofcrossing.pdf>

Kohls, L. Robert. Survival Kit for Overseas Living: for Americans Planning to Live and Work Abroad. 4th edition. Intercultural Press, 2001. Web 25 April 2014 <http://en.bookfi.org/book/1141647>