6 Concrete Ways to Keep the Abroad Alive: Returning Home & Rentry

When the study abroad experience comes to an end and you’re back at home, it may feel like it is all over. Suddenly it feels as though an incredible, potentially life-changing, experience has come to a close. 

How can this international experience continue even after you have returned home? 

Embrace the ways in which you have changed through the experience and all that you have learned. There are numerous ways to carry on your international education experience after the international portion has concluded. Your time abroad is the first aspect of a phase of growth that you are setting off into. After your time abroad has concluded, the new perspectives, knowledge, and opportunities gained abroad will continue to influence your future growth.

Finding opportunities to reconnect with various aspects of your study abroad experience will facilitate continuous growth and a sense of connectedness with the country you studied in and may return to one day! 

Pulling from my personal experiences returning home from studying abroad in Lima, Peru, I have compiled a few tricks for continuing to stay connected to your study abroad experience even after you have returned home. Your experience doesn’t have to be over when you leave the country!

1. Read the News

Keeping up to date with news from the country or region where you studied abroad is a great way to stay connected to the experience you had. This is one thing I wish I had done even before coming home. Reading the local newspapers and watching news helps contextualize names, places, and events that sometimes get thrown around in classes or by locals.

2. Stay in Contact

It may not feel natural to reach out to your host family, program leaders, or professors after you have returned home, but these are supportive connections that can last a long time and be beneficial if you keep contact. I was nervous to call my host mom for a while after I got home, but when I got on the phone with her, a smile ran across my face as my Spanish flowed fluently and I could hear great pleasure in her voice.  

Social media and whatsapp are great ways to stay in contact with friends and connections long after you have returned home. I have found that messaging group chats with the friends I studied abroad with has been wonderful for reminiscing on memories, funny moments, and experiences we had abroad. Having a place to talk with people who have had a similar experience to you can be extremely helpful. 

3. Pursue opportunities to share out

Share your experiences with others. Whether you join a study abroad ambassador program at your university to promote the value of studying abroad, or simply talk to your friends and family about your experiences, sharing out will help you process everything. Moreover, you may inspire someone to travel to or learn more about the place you lived. 

4. Embrace International Films

With a little bit of searching, you can likely find numerous movies that are available for viewing from your host country. If, like me, you studied in a country that spoke a non-english language, find movies or television shows to watch that are in the foreign language! Streaming platforms have become great sources of international and foreign-language films. 

If you are interested in or studied abroad in Latin America, or want to practice your Spanish oratory skills, check out Cinegogia for some Latin American film ideas! Search by country, subject, language, and more! 

5. Listen and Learn from music 

Similar to movies and television, listening to music from the country or region where you studied abroad is a great way to feel connected to the place and people you have physically left behind. As I write this, I am listening to a Colombia singer who I had never heard of before going to Peru. For me, listening to certain songs often evokes certain memories and emotions from times abroad. Hearing songs can transport you back to those moments.  

6. Improve the study abroad experience for future students

Study abroad alumni have the most powerful insight in regards to what the study abroad experience is truly like. In order to improve the experience for future students, your study abroad office and/or study abroad provider would likely LOVE to hear about your experiences and thoughts for how to improve the program.

Additionally, you may be able use your personal experience to offer ways to help these offices and companies to reach out to and inspire students to participate in the study abroad program that has positively affected you.

Hopefully some of these ideas will be helpful for those who have, or soon will, return home from studying abroad. The experience does NOT have to end when you get home. This is simply the next phase of the journey. The steps you take after returning home will build toward your future visit to the country or your next journey. Your study abroad experience is a launching pad for your future. So much awaits you! 

Want to learn about international programs online that you can do to keep the vibe alive? Check out our newest Virtual Study Abroad program opportunities for the upcoming semesters!

EdOdyssey joins the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative

EdOdyssey has joined the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative to help more Americans to gain international experience through study abroad programs. EdOdyssey joins an impressive list of more than 740 other organizations, universities and schools that have already committed to IIE.

IIE’s Generation Study Abroad seeks to mobilize resources and commitments with the goal of doubling and diversifying the number of U.S. students studying abroad by the end of the decade. EdOdyssey has pledged to work with alumni and young professionals to share stories of study abroad, host events and forums to discuss international travel and increase the number of scholarships it offers to students to study abroad. Earlier this year, EdOdyssey also implemented a new financial aid policy that guarantees funds for all students with demonstrated need.

Peter McGovern, President & Global Founder of EdOdyssey, is enthusiastic about this new partnership. Officially announcing the partnership to his colleagues Peter talked about how, study abroad changed his life and noted his enthusiasm to "work alongside a coalition of great schools, universities and organizations to promote a common goal: help more students discover the world.”

Generation Study Abroad partners now includes over 400 colleges and universities of all sizes and types across the country and around the world, as well as 19 governments, 50 education associations, more than 100 international partners, and 100 study abroad, K-12, and social network organizations who have committed to specific goals to increase the number of U.S. students studying abroad. Commitments include actions to diversity the population of students who participate in study abroad and provide additional financial resources to make this possible.

IIE launched Generation Study Abroad in the belief that the number and proportion of today’s students who graduate with an educational experience abroad is far too low. Currently, fewer than 10 percent of all U.S. college students study abroad at some point in their academic career, according to the Open Doors Report on International and Educational Exchange published by IIE with support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Generation Study Abroad aims to grow participation in study abroad so that the annual total reported will reach 600,000 by the end of the decade.

“Globalization has changed the way the world works, and employers are increasingly looking for workers who have international skills and expertise,” says Dr. Allan Goodman, President of IIE. “Studying abroad must be viewed as an essential component of a college degree and critical to preparing future leaders.”

About Generation Study Abroad

IIE’s Generation Study Abroad seeks to significantly increase study abroad participation by bringing employers, governments, associations, and others together to build on current best practices and find new ways to extend study abroad opportunities and resources to tens of thousands of college students whose needs are not currently served by existing programs. Generation Study Abroad will sustain an ongoing dialogue about the need for more students from all backgrounds and in all fields to gain international experience. This will include research to identify and break down barriers hindering students from studying abroad, communications to share strategies and best practices to increase study abroad, and fundraising to mobilize additional financial resources.  IIE will also hold a Summit on Generation Study Abroad on October 1-3, 2017 in Washington, D.C. to engage stakeholders in higher education and all commitment partners.

About EdOdyssey

EdOdyssey custom designs educational programs for students around the world. The organization creates amazing student immersion in Peru, China, Spain, the USA and beyond for grade 6-12 students. In addition, EdOdyssey offer a semester and full year study abroad program in Lima, Peru for undergraduate students in addition to a briefer summer term. Founded in 2014, EdOdyssey is a team of educators passionate about sharing the world with students. To date, its team has flown just shy of 1,000,000 miles with students, spent more than 13,450 hours in the classroom led 896 days and counting of programming.

About the Institute of International Education

The Institute of International Education is a world leader in the international exchange of people and ideas. An independent, not-for-profit organization founded in 1919, IIE has a network of 19 offices and affiliates worldwide and over 1,200 member institutions. IIE designs and implements programs of study and training for students, educators, young professionals and trainees from all sectors with funding from government agencies, foundations, and corporations. IIE also conducts policy research and program evaluations, and provides advising and counseling on international education and opportunities abroad.