5 Worst Reasons NOT to Study Abroad

By Allie Caton on September 23, 2017

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Studying abroad is one of the best ways to see the world, and it’s only accessible while you are in college. Living, working, and studying in a new place is the best way to broaden your worldview and to learn about new cultures. Many study abroad programs provide trips and excursions that you otherwise would have missed out on if you had just been visiting on your own.

Because studying abroad is specific to college students, it’s so important to take advantage of it if you have any interest in seeing the world. If you don’t have interest in going, that’s fine!

However, so many students come up with the worst reasons for not going abroad. Here are five.

1. “I don’t know anyone in the program.”

I understand this hesitation, but it’s not worth missing out on the opportunity to study abroad. I went to Sydney, Australia last semester not knowing anyone in the program. The first few days were a bit difficult because I had to put myself out there a bit, but I quickly developed friends — one friend that I am still close with now that we are back at school. If you put in just a bit of effort, you will make friends. I was surprised at how many people in the program didn’t know anyone beforehand. Everyone wants to make friends and have people to explore with, so it’s not difficult to find your niche.

Going abroad not knowing anyone is also a great way to make friends with locals. I found that people who went abroad together in big friend groups didn’t reach outside of their friend groups as much as others who went knowing no one. It’s easy to get stuck in your own group because it’s easy and comfortable, but one of the most enriching parts of studying abroad is making connections.

2. “I’m going to have FOMO about things going on back home.”

I understand this one too. No one likes to feel like things are happening without them. But this isn’t a great excuse for not going abroad. Going abroad is something you can only do while in college. After you graduate, it is likely going to be harder to be able to live in a new country for a few months with no repercussions.

Missing out on what’s happening on campus isn’t fun, but you will be experiencing so much exciting, once-in-a-lifetime things that it won’t even matter. It’s not like school or friends back home are going anywhere while you are gone or that you have to cut off all communication while you are gone.

Facetiming your friends back home is a great way to keep in touch with what’s going on on campus. I guarantee you that your friends back home will have FOMO about all of the cool things that you are doing.

3. ”The flight is so long!”

The flight to Australia was 18 hours from Los Angeles and then an extra five hours to my home; I know about long flights, and I can tell you that it’s so worth it. Traveling for 23 hours was horrible, but it was nothing compared to how amazing my study abroad experience was. A couple days of difficult traveling for an entire semester of exploring sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

4. “I’ve never traveled without my parents.”

This is the perfect opportunity to start! You aren’t completely alone, but you will be forced to do things for yourself. The program will help you with travel logistics and housing logistics, but the rest is up to you! It’s the perfect opportunity to research places you want to see for yourself and figure out how to make it happen.

Traveling on your own is a valuable life skill that will stick with you for your entire life. Pulling together the logistics of a day or weekend trip will teach you so much about how traveling works and you will learn things about the country you are in along the way. Putting together a trip for yourself and seeing it through is so satisfying and a great way to see more of the country you are in than the program can help you with.

5. “I don’t speak the language.”

The best way to learn a language is to immerse yourself in it. Plus, there are tons of helpful apps like Duolingo that can help you get some general vocab under your belt beforehand. Through necessity, you will learn how to say certain things in the new language which can feel pretty satisfying.

If you don’t want to learn a new language or feel uncomfortable with it, there are so many English-speaking countries to study abroad in — places like London, Australia, New Zealand, Scotland, and more. English is pretty widely spoken, and you might find that even in a country dominated by another language, many of the locals will speak some English and be able to help you out if you need it.

Don’t pass up the opportunity to study abroad for any of these reasons. Studying abroad will be one of the most memorable experiences of your entire life, and you don’t want to miss out on it because you were too busy making silly excuses.

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