The possible positive effect of spending a year as an exchange student

Let’s first start with the basics – what is a student exchange program?

To put simply, a student exchange program is a program in which students from a high school or university study abroad at one of their university’s partner institutions.

It is a highly recommended program for students because it allows them to immerse themselves in local culture.

As it is known for or many students, the expectation of studying abroad is both exciting and terrifying.

You will  take part in a brand new culture,  meet new people and grow as a person.

No doubt that each student’s study abroad

experience is completely different, but the one thing they have in common is that this phase of their lives is always a memorable one.

Talking about the benefits, let’s take a look at some of them.

You will get to know a whole new way of life.

 

Studying abroad will allow you to experience different cultures and outlooks, including new traditions and customs, and socialize with others.

Discovering new culture is a chance to step out of your comfort zone and experience different situations.

By fully immersing yourself into this experience, for example participate in local activities, tasting the local food, and making friends with a variety of people, will give you a better understanding and appreciation.

Well, studying in a new country means changing your habits and facing unfamiliar situations – which can be scary for you.

But, why not to use these challenges as a way to uncover your strong and your weak sides.

Needles to say, stepping out of your comfort zone is one of the things that makes the studying abroad experience so valuable.

It also means that in the future when unexpected problems and difficulties arise, it’ll be easier  for you to manage them as you’ll have had some experience adapting to this kind of situations.

You’ll experience different styles of education

 

Of course, studying at a different university and encountering new styles of teaching can be unusual to the ones you’re used to, particularly if you’re studying abroad for the first time.

Take advantage of this as an opportunity to experience different methods of teaching and find out what type of learning works best for you.

So you can use it in the future.

– Last but not least,

You’ll make new friends from around the world

One of the main and amazing benefits of taking part in a student exchange programme or just studying abroad, is all of the great friends and memories you’ll make while you’re there.

During your studies, you’ll meet a wide range of people from many different walks of life – some of which might become life-long friendships.

It’ll also be advantageous to have friends from different countries after you graduate. Not only will you have an excuse to visit lots of different countries, but these people may also become an important network of business contacts later on in your career, and you can become good colleagues.

Also visiting other countries can help change your worldview and give you an international outlook.

Talking about the benefits of studying abroad can be endless.

We can make a whole list of good privileges.

But still, one should not ignore the difficulties that one may encounter.

Despite all this, in order to experience the good, we ourselves must try to see only the good sides, then it will certainly be.

 

By Aziza Qasimbeyova, Lingva Pre-IELTS Group student

*Lingva Training Center encourages its students to develop their writing and speaking skills through blogs, as well as research and TEDx projects