Studying abroad for a full year is an opportunity to develop critical skills for an interconnected world, achieve fluency in a foreign language, build relationships, and create connections that will last a lifetime.
“It is a mistake to see study abroad as a sort of finishing school for the elites who can afford it. It should be seen as a necessary learning experience to develop critical skills for the 21st century.”
Explore
Experience and interact with other perspectives, improve your cultural understanding, and broaden your worldview.
“I have a new sense of patience, understanding and empathy that comes with traveling and learning about a new place and culture.”
Shelby Newallis (Italy, 2014-15)
Learn
Gain language skills and perspectives that are not available at your home university.
“I could speak the language after a year, and I really understood the people there, their culture, their views, and their ideas.”
Jonathan Nelson (Austria, 2010-11)
Connect
Form meaningful relationships - friends, academic contacts, business connections - with people from different cultures that will last a lifetime.
“The opportunity to form meaningful relationships with people from different cultures and backgrounds is not something I could have gotten at UCSD.”
Anita Suen, China (2012-13)
Develop
Build key life skills such as independence, self confidence, grit, and empathy. Become a more mature and autonomous individual.
“When traveling, the fear of the unknown and the unexpected, given an open mind, can give way to a sense of self-reliance, dynamism, and especially humility that is easy to forget but is so important.”
Joachim Lyon (China, 2004-05)
Create
Develop sought after skills that create opportunities and differentiate you from other candidates for jobs and graduate study.
“My year abroad in Tokyo was a major reason why I was selected for this competitive internship.”
Sophia Osborn (Japan, 2016-17)
Grow
Explore and develop your goals for the future.
“While I learned more than I could have imagined about Irish culture and its people, what was more surprising was all that I learned about myself. Living abroad instilled me with a new sense of confidence and left me with a clearer picture of where I want my life to go.”
Molly Tremblay (Spain, 2009-10)