College is a time to discover new passions, grow, and learn. While most people imagine these types of things happening within a classroom, that’s not always the case. Today, most students have the opportunity to head out to various parts of the world and indulge in the culture and lessons that can only be taught through travel.
Whether you have a student that is dead set on studying abroad at some point in their college career or you are a student on the fence with whether or not this is something that you’d like to pursue, keep reading. In today’s blog, we are going to cover just six reasons that choosing to study abroad is a fantastic choice.
See the World
Having the opportunity to travel and see the world is not something that everyone gets, so why wouldn’t you take advantage of the opportunity when you had the chance to? There are countless reasons that it is so incredibly difficult to make time to travel later on in life.
From the restraints of a job and the responsibilities of a family to the financial struggles of young adulthood, it’s so easy to put traveling on the back burner. Unfortunately, this is a difficult trap to get out of once you’ve allowed it to happen once or twice. For that reason, we always think it’s an excellent opportunity for college students to take advantage of.
Whether there’s one particular place that they’d like to visit, a handful of places, or a world that they’re curious about, there is usually a program that can speak to these desires. If you have a curious mind that’s considering studying abroad, encourage them — they’ll benefit from it!
Additional Education
College is all about gaining an education, but that doesn’t mean that it’s limited to the classroom. While the college that you or your student is attending is definitely the primary source of education in regards to their major or future career, there are ways that studying abroad can enhance levels of education in ways that a college can not.
One of the ways that individuals benefit from studying abroad is through the immersion of the culture in the location that they’re visiting. Traveling abroad teaches young adults to value other cultures, their history, their food, their language, and more. While this may not be the primary focus of their studies, it’s only going to further develop their education.
Personal Development
Again, this is something that is expected in the overall college experience, but there are things that choosing to study abroad will provide you with that a typical college experience may or may not be able to help with. The one primary way that personal development will differ between these two experiences is pretty straightforward.
You see, when you’ve been at school for a couple of years, you start to create your group of friends. Whether it be based on interests that you have, the classes that you’re taking or you’re meeting people in your major’s department, it’s much easier to build a norm at university. Sure this takes some time, but overall, it’s relatively easy.
When you take a chance on studying abroad, there will often be a language barrier, new faces, new places, and new boundaries that will take you out of your comfort zone. For some, it’s difficult and requires them to go beyond their comfort level which, in turn, helps with personal development in ways they might not have experienced back at their university.
New Experiences
One of the major perks to traveling abroad is the opportunity to enjoy experiences that you might not have otherwise had the chance to. Let’s face it. Here in Colorado, there are plenty of incredible activities for you to take advantage of and enjoy, but there are certain things that other locations offer that you’ll never be able to do here.
Aside from actual excursions or adventures, the culture that you’ll experience is also going to be much different and can provide you with endless experiences that you would never have gotten back home. All in all, choosing to visit another country while in school is a fantastic way to expose yourself to new situations, experiences, cultures, foods, and the like.
Language Skills
Learning to speak a new language is far from easy. Whether you’re studying a language or you’re interested in learning a new language, visiting a different country is one of the easiest ways to do so. Studying abroad immerses you within a language, sometimes a couple. While it can be overwhelming at first to have to pick up on a new language, it’s something that you’re definitely going to need to get by.
The good news is that immersion truly does make learning a new language so much easier. By surrounding yourself with individuals that speak the language fluently and working with other students that are also learning the language, you’ll pick it up in no time.
Long-Term Stay
Traveling is one thing, but being able to enjoy a new country for long-term stays is not something that everyone gets the chance to do. Sure, you’ll always be able to book a trip to Thailand or visit New Zealand (being able to afford it is a different thing!). But you won’t always be able to do so for extended amounts of time.
Studying abroad gives you the opportunity to call these places home for a semester. That means that you’ll have more opportunities to experience the culture, learn the language, partake in events, and so much more. Rather than having to cram as much of a country as you can into a one week or two week period, you get the chance to really enjoy a destination for everything that it is. Not many people get this opportunity.
ParkDIA Wishes You the Best
When you’ve finally accepted that traveling abroad is one of the best things that you can do, give into the experience entirely! ParkDIA is passionate about travel and ensuring that all individuals that are out experiencing the world have the smoothest experience while traveling. That is why we offer covered and uncovered parking services for both short-term and long-term periods.
Whether you’re a student looking for a reliable and safe place to park your car for the duration of your trip or you’re a friend or family member that is heading out to visit, we have got you covered. Just select the service that you’d like to take advantage of, enter the days that you’ll be traveling and reserve your spot — it’s as simple as that!
Reach out to our team if you have any additional questions!
