Unpacking a life-changing Experience
Clark helps students handle re-entry after study abroad
By Jane Salerno
Photo by Rob Carlin
You convinced your parents to let you go. You scrounged the money, filled out countless forms, met strict deadlines, stifled your fears, and made the flight. You thought you knew enough Spanish to get by. You were wrong, but you discovered how much more there is to communication than mere words. You were only sick for a couple of days. You made do without a lot of stuff you thought you needed. You made mistakes. You made friends. You made a difference. You never felt so alive. And you made it safely home. So, why are you crying?
Transformative Challenges
Record numbers of students are participating in study-abroad programs, many beginning in high school. Nearly everyone will attest to the transformative power of immersion into other cultures and that studying abroad can be a vital educational component and a life-changing time. But students often face unexpected emotions and difficult adjustments after they return home —a challenge known as re-entry. Post-trip adjustment can range from mild letdown to alienation and anger. The challenges many students face when a trip is ended, and life as a student resumes, are as varied and unique as the individuals. And, like colleges across the country, Clark 's office of Study Abroad/Study Away Programs offers varied strategies and support programs to reintegrate students and help them gain the full personal and academic benefits of their experiences. "Everyone talks about going away," says Sabrina Fanger '08, who spent the fall 2006 semester in Spain. "We're so prepared; told ‘here's what to expect.' Coming back is harder in many ways."
Studying abroad on the rise
In 2005, according to the NAFSA Institute of International Education, more than 205,000 American students studied abroad, an increase of 10 percent over 2004. Still, that number represents only one percent of U.S. college students. NAFSA is strongly behind a bill now before Congress that promotes a goal of placing one million U.S. students in study abroad programs in the year 2010 . (To learn more, visit http://www.yearofstudyabroad.org/index.asp.)
Currently at Clark, 30 to 35 percent of the junior class participates in study-abroad programs, according to Adriane van Gils, director of Clark 's Study Abroad/Study Away Programs. Clark offers semester- or yearlong programs in Australia, China, Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, Japan, Namibia, Spain and Scotland. Clark also offers short-term summer programs in Luxembourg and Prague. Programs range from a month 's study to a full year, from internships to academic programs conducted by foreign universities, and from culturally intensive to major-oriented curricula. Domestic study-away opportunities include the American University 's Washington Semester, the Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars, and the Semester in Environmental Science-Woods Hole in Massachusetts.
Van Gils says readjustment is especially hard for students who study abroad during fall semesters, as they "drop back" onto campus mid-year and often need more time to get back into the flow of campus life and course work. Some students find it hard to sit at a desk in a traditional classroom environment after what might have been a bustling, on-the-go experience abroad.
Re-entry strategies
Among the programs Clark offers to help with transitions are homecoming socials and workshops that assist with "unpacking" the experience. "Reverse culture shock is a big topic," van Gils says. Her office has also established a Study Abroad Network that links students with each other, with work and funding opportunities, and with campus offices that lend support and advice, including Academic Advising, Career Services, Counseling Services, the Community Engagement and Volunteering Center, and Intercultural Affairs Office.
At a recent re-entry workshop led by study-abroad coordinator Bryan McAllister-Grande and graduate assistant Mikhaila Gonzales, students compared their experiences and were encouraged to reflect on cultural values experienced in context with the values and worldview underlying their own culture.
Katie Cordes '07, who has been to the Ukraine three times, recounted how her perceptions evolved as she spent more time in the Ukraine. "Those experiences allowed me to accept the blessings we have here in the United States and not feel guilty about them. I saw the materialism of the United States compared to the families I stayed with and needed that time to realize that it 's okay to have things, just be thankful and share with others."
Erica Richmond '08 spent four months last fall in Namibia. "Some people are more open to hearing about your experience than others; you learn to differentiate from among those people, " she says. "It wasn't all amazing for me, and people want to hear that it was. I was coming back from a place where race relations, sexism and poverty were extreme. " Richmond refuses to generalize about Namibia and describes the task of "decolonizing your own mind about it. … While there are a lot of social and economic issues, certainly it's not just about people needing food, but about meeting those people, the people behind the statistics. " Back at Clark, Richmond enrolled in the course Africa in the Global Context taught by geography professor James Murphy. "I purposely chose classes that might help me re-enter," she says.
Clark Study Abroad also helps students recognize how their experiences develop intercultural skills that add tremendous value to their career potential. "It's a big issue for employers who are sending a lot more workers overseas in the global economy, " McAllister-Grande says. "The big buzzword now is ‘global competencies.' These are a mix of skills and qualities that are very interpersonal in nature. They range anywhere from dealing with ambiguous situations, to managing difficult cultural attitudes all at once. "
With a little help from family, friends and Clark, students generally find their own ways to savor and assimilate their study-abroad experiences. When Jeffrey Yano '07 returned from his studies in East Anglia, he chose to drive cross-country from his home in California, his own re-entry strategy. "It helped me reintegrate," he says. "That trip helped me realize that America was not just ‘back to where I was before.'"
About his time abroad, Yano says: "It was a big part of my education, academically and personally. It's going to have effects for the rest of my life."
Top 10 Re-entry Challenges
1. Boredom
2. No one wants to hear
3. You can't explain
4. Reverse "homesickness"
5. Relationships have changed
6. People see the "wrong" changes
7. People misunderstand
8. Feeling of alienation/seeing with critical eyes
9. Inability to apply new knowledge or skills
10. Loss/compartmentalization of experience
Stages of Re-entry Shock
Initial excitement: Enjoy being home
Judgmental stage: Nothing at home seems good; finding fault
Realization stage: Acknowledging changes
Reverse culture shock: Frustration
Balanced adaptation: Integrating the experience abroad with living at home or finding ways to cope with re-entry
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Clarknews Spring 2007
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Study Abroad Coordinator Bryan McAllister-Grande, graduate assistant Mikhalia Gonzales, and Director Adriane van Gils |
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