The best way to learn about another culture is to walk in its shoes. There is no greater way to understand another culture without submersing yourself fully into its environment. The opportunity to study abroad will be a life changing and benefiting experience, where you will bring back cultural knowledge to help our nation better understand the world.
You may think you know a lot about a certain culture from movies and TV shows, but the truth is you don’t. Since, most movies and TV shows are just a projection of what the director or producer wants you to see. So, break out of your cultural bubble and go out exploring! Studying abroad isn’t just a fun-packed experience, but also allows you to become more independent. This newfound type of independence and cultural experience will be highlights of your resume, since employers love it when students travel and stay at a culturally different country for an extended period of time. This will surely set you apart from most of the well-qualified individuals.
Also, our nation has cultural ignorance, where we are totally misunderstood of different cultures around us due to the lack of personal knowledge and experience. We are still young and motivated, so we have the power and ability to change our nation. When we travel to another country, we are also acting as an ambassador for our nation. So, we can gain a better understanding of other cultures and other cultures can gain a better understanding of us at the same time.
Studying abroad is essential to broadening your knowledge and views of the world we live in. We don’t just have the experience of a lifetime, but also the opportunity to make the world a better place. So, what are you waiting for?
By Chris Kong, Loyola University Maryland, TBC Communications and Social Media Intern and Fall 2015 Student
The past few weekends have been some of the most exciting of the entire semester, full of trips to the zoo, mountain hikes, ancient parks, and more! Our first trip out of many was a visit to the Beijing Zoo. I had mentioned earlier in the semester that I wanted to see some pandas, since I was in China after all, and our TBC friend Andy made it happen.
Spending a whole semester in Beijing, I knew I had to make the trip down south and check out Shanghai, and the city certainly lived up to the expectations. Everyone describes Shanghai as this super futuristic metropolis, and after spending a weekend there I understand why it has this reputation.