Examining what you have learned

Re-entry is a transition and like all transitions it has potential for both pain and growth. Here is a list of what returnees had to say about how they have grown from their experience. Which of them describe you? Take a moment to write down ways in which you have changed as a result of your study/work abroad experience?

I now …

• have a new sense of autonomy! If I can figure out the subway in Paris, I can do anything! If I can enroll in a course in Spanish by myself, I can surely tackle my home institutions bureaucracy! I can travel around a tropical island myself and be in a place where I did not understand the language around me, I can be comfortable and confident almost anywhere
• feel more self-confident
• feel more focused about my career interests
• have a greater awareness of other cooking and eating habits
• know that dating can mean different things and know about  different patterns of male/female relationships
• have a genuine feeling of breaking the language barrier by studing my subject in another language
• have a greater sense of what it is like to watch out for personal security
• feel connected to people across the world
• have a new appreciation for the number of opportunities and material things that I can enjoy at home and at the same time a keen awareness of how much more I have than people in other countries
• have a greater view of the possibilities in my life. It is like doors and windows to many things were opened
• feel like „global citizen” and care more about what happens around the globe
• have higher tolerance for ambiguity in situations. Now I can be in situations in which I do not understand all that is going on and still feel comfortable in trying to communicate
• am able to suspend judgment about people and their actions because sometimes you just don’t have all the cultural and language background that you need
• am able to communicate despite barriers and handle stress and difficult situations (adapted from Paige, M. et al 2002, p 149-150).