Article by: Siena Bendixen-Park
Do you have an insatiable desire to try new ethnic restaurants in your neighborhood? Check.
Do you stop to press the sample selections at every world music kiosk? Check.
Is your Netflix queue full of foreign films and international film festival top picks? Ah hah!
You’ve probably got the travel bug. It’s like a mosquito bite, so go and scratch that itch — it’s so worth it and you won’t be able to stop. And if you are like me, you’ll work traveling into your career so global experiences will be a defining feature of your daily existence.
I plan global student travel experiences for a living and I’ve heard a million stories about how educational travel has helped a student’s development. Studying abroad can provide you with an edge in your career search, or simply a series of great stories about how your plans got derailed, leading to an epic adventure.
And more students are packing their bags. According to U.S. News, an estimated 23% of students studied abroad in 2011 and that number continues to grow.
I’ve got a lot to say about traveling in college. As a student at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., I set aside savings from my retail job to embark on trips covering four continents. I spent part of my time one year studying German in Vienna, but I also wanted to see places less traveled by American university students that also put my physical and mental being to the test. One such trip was hiking the Inca Trail in Peru for three days, culminating with a descent into the ruins of Machu Picchu.
I first learned to interact in a global community studying abroad, and now I manage relationships with partners based out of Vienna, Tokyo, Quito, Delhi, Anchorage and more. I can explain cultural nuances to my customers and conduct business effectively with international teams. And that is just part of who I am today. Managing international contacts is a facet of most industries in today’s economy, and your study abroad experience provides you with the cultural sensitivity to work effectively with a diverse, global team.
Padding your travel portfolio opens doors when you enter the job force by showing that you can relate to the world because you’ve seen it. Educational travel adds a deeper layer to that by saying you not only CHOSE to see the world, but you also made a conscious effort to UNDERSTAND it. Add that to your resume! You can show that you’ve got key jobs skills now such as: flexibility, independence, managing change and understanding diverse communication patterns.
So how do you decide what is right for you? Ask yourself what type of experience you really want before you start looking at options.
1. Do you need the endless freedom of wandering Europe with rail pass and a backpack in hand, and ample time to sit in a piazza and people watch?
2. Do you want to hang out in a campus environment that provides you a home base to set out and explore all semester?
3. Or do you want something else altogether? A great alternative to both these hallmark college experiences is to choose an education travel program geared toward travel and discovery. I had a great opportunity to join College Ambassadors from my company last December to do some amazing service work in a small village outside Jaipur, India.
I’ve found that the primary reason to study abroad is to learn about yourself and the world, all while positioning yourself competitively to enter your next stage in life. This is true for students at any phase of their academic careers. Each traveler who chooses to dip his or her toes in the deep ocean of study abroad opportunities will benefit in a new and personal way. What is yours going to be?
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