Studying Abroad

            Adrienne Stoner’s research on studying abroad vs. new media was very effective in my opinion.  I think it is interesting that she made the connection about having a serious immersion in another country with our social media outlets.  I also think it is important and amazing to study abroad if possible, but I also think students do not just have to go abroad concerning their studies.  I think there is also a very high culture shock without the university studies.

            Personally I experienced what it is like the just pack up and go abroad for over a month after high school.  I knew some German and I went to Germany and the time I spent there was in the apartment/dorms of others, so it was a very involved student lifestyle.  From what I experienced I learned to speak German much better, I attended a few lectures as a student’s guest, learned about their student government, and a lot about the German culture.  Most of the German I learned was from interacting with my friends and the locals.  On top of these experiences I had absolutely no cell phone or way of contacting my parents except for the occasional expensive text.  I would definitely agree that having little contact with home helps in the development of international skills.  I think that me going abroad gave me insight to another culture and prepared me better for starting college.  It really had nothing to do with getting credits or increasing my language.  The language progression was just something that happened naturally.  I also think it is nice to go abroad and not have to worry about school because after I was done with Germany I went to the Czech Republic and Italy and I didn’t know their languages either.  Yet again I learned tremendous amounts of history and culture from going there.

            In the end I would advocate students to study abroad, but also if they feel threatened by a language barrier they shouldn’t be discouraged from going abroad in general.  The opportunities UIC has to offer are very wide and students can find places where people speak English or whatever it is their language is and study there.