The Pros and Cons of Studying Abroad (Foreign Country)

The Pros and Cons of Studying Abroad

Many students desire to study abroad to go overseas for their first degree of further studies and this is a good one. Students in underdeveloped or developing countries may find it more appealing to study abroad if education is substandard in their home country. Some may find ways of gathering money to go out and study, while some others may be lucky to get scholarships to study abroad. Whichever the case this is in no way to coerce you or to discourage you from travelling out to further your studies or to even do your first degree, it is just for you to be able to have a good perspective of the advantages and disadvantages involved when studying in a foreign country. So maybe you are already in another country doing your studies or you are planning to travel out to do your first degree or further your studies, you might just be interested in knowing what pros and cons are involved.  Studying in a foreign country? These are the pros and cons.

Pros

Wider exposure

One of the advantages of travelling out for your study is that you will be more exposed, you will have wider exposure than the normal citizen in your home country who probably has not never gone out of the country, you will meet new people, you will see a new culture and will have a wider scope of experience. Experiencing an environment that is different from that in your home country could prove to be a very wonderful experience if it’s a beautiful place over there abroad where you go to study. You get to look at the world from another perspective and you get to see how developed and different the new place is from what you are used to. You can then have your thinking scope broadened and not narrowed down to the former normal that you were used to.

Opportunity to learn a new language

Another benefit of going abroad to study is that you could possibly be exposed to a new language, if you are the type that quickly picks up languages or if you deliberately take good interest in learning the language then you can become good at the language and can have one more language added to the number of languages that you know. The more languages you know, the better, and it is a good thing for you especially if it’s a very relevant language that you learnt. You might have an edge when you are seeking for job.

Better economy (possibly)

Another advantage of going abroad to study especially, studying in a developed country is that if the economy of the country where you are studying is better than the economy back at home, if you take up a side job while you’re studying, you can be making some good money to take care of yourself and may even be able to send money back home to your people who are in your home country, so it could be a good opportunity if you know how to go about it properly. It means that apart from the academic benefits, you also can have the opportunity to do a good side job, make some money and send money to help people your family back at home where the possibility exists.

Stretch in adaptation

One other advantage that studying abroad can give you that it will take you out of the normal environment that you have adapted to, outside the comfortable environment you are used to and you will have to adapt, whether you like it or not as long as you want to stay in that foreign country to study, you will have to adapt to the new environment and in adapting you will be gaining tolerance and ability to adapt outside your comfort zone, it could be a way to stretch you, perhaps in having to adjust to probably a new climate, temperature and the likes.

More freedom

Also, your level of independence will increase. When you travel out of the country to study you will be more independent. Of course a student in the university or college has some level of independence from the parents already, but when you travel out then you have a higher level of independence because you are far from home and there you are responsible for your choices, your decisions and you have to be able to take care of yourself, by yourself. So, it is a higher level of independence. Being able to cope in such a situation will go a long way to help you build some responsibility for yourself, how to take care of yourself and even probably out to take care of others too.

Stories to share

Studying in a foreign country will afford you the opportunity to have experiences to share and stories to tell people back at home. If eventually you return back to your home country, people might want to know how the place you went to study was, and you will have things to say. You may even be in a good position to advice or help other students who may want to go abroad to study.

Cons

Missing home

One disadvantage of traveling out of your home country to study abroad in a foreign country is that you might be missing home. You know, you likely would be far from your siblings, parents, friends and others, and you might miss them. Even if you talk on phone, it may not necessarily look as when you are together physically but once you know what to handle that when it happens, then you are fine.

Communication problem

Going to study in foreign country, another disadvantage could be that there may be communication barrier in some cases. If you don’t know the language of the people there, if it is not a language that you are familiar with then there will be barrier in communicating with people around you. This will happen until you are able to get an interpreter or eventually learn their language. If you are just planning to go outside to study in another country, you need to consider the kind of country where going to study and know if there will be language barrier and how to go about handling such a situation.

Change in environment

If you’re going abroad to study, you might have to adapt to a new climatic condition, a different weather and temperature. The environment and culture might not be the way they were in your own country and you will need to adapt. If the weather over there is not the type of weather that you are very okay with, then you might have a kind of difficult time adapting in that kind of situation.

Cost

The cost of studying in a foreign country is something to consider. Except you get a full scholarship, you might have to gather money to be able to go and study abroad. When a student gets partial scholarship, the student will still need to get money for other things not catered for. Therefore, cost factor is something that may be a kind of con when considering studying abroad. But with determination, if you can be able to get all you need to study abroad, it’s a good one.