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Making the Most of Your Experience Abroad
Now that you have returned from your exciting and life-changing experience abroad, you will undoubtedly have questions about what you can do next. You might be wondering how you can continue to use the language you learned (or improved) abroad. Or you might be curious as to how you can use the skills and experiences acquired abroad to enhance your resume or land that dream job. Re-Entry
First things, first! Before you can truly make the most of your experience abroad, you need to get through the “reverse culture shock” you are probably experiencing now that you are back at home. We gave you some information about this before you left for your term abroad, but now is the time you need some guidance to understand how normal it is to feel what you are feeling, and to figure out how to cope.
The following web sites can help you understand and learn to cope with the issues surrounding your return to “normal life” following a semester abroad.
Coming Home: Relationships, Roots, and UnpackingBy Jim Citron and Vija Mendelson (Transitions Abroad Magazine)(Transitions Abroad Magazine)
Culture Shock at Home: Understanding Your Own Change—the Experience of Return By Allison Bruce (Transitions Abroad Magazine)
Study Abroad Handbook (Part V – Re-entry)
What’s Up With Culture? (Module 2, beginning with Sect. 2.3)
FIU Counseling and Psychological Services
Utilizing your Experience Abroad
Maintaining your Language Skills
Most likely, you studied a foreign language while you were in your host country. Many students are interested in pursuing their language studies further to reach fluency, or at least to have a level of proficiency for their personal satisfaction or to assist them in their job search.
There are many ways to continue your language study when you return from your host country. -
Read the newspaper from your host city/country online. This helps you maintain your reading proficiency and stay abreast of current events at your host site.
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Go to foreign language films at your local theater.
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Enroll in the next level of your language at FIU.
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Enroll in language courses at a local language and culture center. For instance, Alliance Française and the Dante Alighieri Society both have local offices and sponsor language classes, cultural events, movies, guest lectures, etc. Do a Google search for the language or culture you are interested in and you’ll be surprised at what you find available locally.
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Stay in touch with your host family and/or friends you made during your time abroad. They will want to know how you are doing, and it is a great way to keep up your language skills. Also, these are contacts that may allow you to return to your host site more easily in the future.
Keeping your Experience Alive
For many returning study abroad students, the chance to tell their story to an interested individual doesn’t present itself that frequently. While you are excited to share what you have learned and seen, many of your friends can’t understand what you have been through and how it has changed you. Still, maybe you want to have an impact on other students and let them see how your experience abroad has impacted your life.
If this sounds like you, you can: -
Check with the Office of Education Abroad about employment opportunities in our office (work-study students); or
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Check with the Office of Education Abroad about opportunities to volunteer at Study Abroad Fairs, Incoming Exchange Student Orientations, Pre-departure meetings, Classroom presentations, etc.
Moving Beyond College
Since your study abroad experience has probably had a major impact on your life, you will naturally be looking for ways to factor it into your career plans and job searching.
You should definitely include the study abroad experience on your resume, and be sure to highlight your language skills. You may want to go further by identifying the transferable skills that you gained abroad (presentation skills, adaptability to new situations, etc.) so that you can discuss them with potential employers in an interview setting.
To learn more about how to incorporate study abroad experiences into your resume or career search, contact the Career Services Office (http://www.fiu.edu/~career/).
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