Take a Chance and Study Abroad

By Xander Kennedy, admissions counselor at Stephens College

You step off the plane and even the air tastes different, but oh, that’s just the beginning. 
           
I decided to go on an unscripted journey through Paris just to see what happened.  I got off at a random stop, took pictures and got back onto a different metro.  I soon found myself gazing up at Montmartre.  C’est la vie.  (A blog entry by Nicolette Boese during a Stephens College sponsored study/internship in France.)

In any list of things that are universally accepted, the benefits of studying abroad would rank near the top. Why not broaden your perspectives and expand your horizons?  Spin a globe and stop it — whatever location is resting under your index finger (or pinky) is some place that you could know more about.  Let’s say the globe came to rest with your digits caressing the Bolivian Andes.  What do you know about La Paz?  How about Sucre?  Lago (Lake) Titicaca has a funny name, but can you swim in it?  If you’re the inquisitive type, don’t just look up this information, go and find out firsthand. 

We stood atop the east edge with the west side teasing us only 12 feet away.  Twenty feet below us roared the water that was halting our forward progress.  Just north of us a lay a fallen tree, spanning the canyon.  Quite thick and moss-covered, the tree formed a crazy, natural viaduct.  Not wanting to waste time looking for another route, we lined up and each tried, but of course failed, to not look down as we scooted backwards across the bridge.  Ten minutes later, the experience was simply another footnote from our wild New Zealand tramp.  (A passage from my journal during a semester in New Zealand while a student at Truman State University.)

I recently read a study that said “the long-term impact of study abroad on a student’s personal, professional, and academic life shows that (it) positively and unequivocally influences the career path, world-view, and self-confidence of students” (Mary M. Dwyer, Ph.D. and Courtney K. Peters). You may be weighing several factors as you select your college. Is one of them the ease and accessibility of studying abroad?  Perhaps it should be. 

More Articles: