6 Concrete Ways to Keep the Abroad Alive: Returning Home & Rentry
When the study abroad experience comes to an end and you’re back at home, it may feel like it is all over. Suddenly it feels as though an incredible, potentially life-changing, experience has come to a close.
How can this international experience continue even after you have returned home?
Embrace the ways in which you have changed through the experience and all that you have learned. There are numerous ways to carry on your international education experience after the international portion has concluded. Your time abroad is the first aspect of a phase of growth that you are setting off into. After your time abroad has concluded, the new perspectives, knowledge, and opportunities gained abroad will continue to influence your future growth.
Finding opportunities to reconnect with various aspects of your study abroad experience will facilitate continuous growth and a sense of connectedness with the country you studied in and may return to one day!
Pulling from my personal experiences returning home from studying abroad in Lima, Peru, I have compiled a few tricks for continuing to stay connected to your study abroad experience even after you have returned home. Your experience doesn’t have to be over when you leave the country!
1. Read the News
Keeping up to date with news from the country or region where you studied abroad is a great way to stay connected to the experience you had. This is one thing I wish I had done even before coming home. Reading the local newspapers and watching news helps contextualize names, places, and events that sometimes get thrown around in classes or by locals.
2. Stay in Contact
It may not feel natural to reach out to your host family, program leaders, or professors after you have returned home, but these are supportive connections that can last a long time and be beneficial if you keep contact. I was nervous to call my host mom for a while after I got home, but when I got on the phone with her, a smile ran across my face as my Spanish flowed fluently and I could hear great pleasure in her voice.
Social media and whatsapp are great ways to stay in contact with friends and connections long after you have returned home. I have found that messaging group chats with the friends I studied abroad with has been wonderful for reminiscing on memories, funny moments, and experiences we had abroad. Having a place to talk with people who have had a similar experience to you can be extremely helpful.
3. Pursue opportunities to share out
Share your experiences with others. Whether you join a study abroad ambassador program at your university to promote the value of studying abroad, or simply talk to your friends and family about your experiences, sharing out will help you process everything. Moreover, you may inspire someone to travel to or learn more about the place you lived.
4. Embrace International Films
With a little bit of searching, you can likely find numerous movies that are available for viewing from your host country. If, like me, you studied in a country that spoke a non-english language, find movies or television shows to watch that are in the foreign language! Streaming platforms have become great sources of international and foreign-language films.
If you are interested in or studied abroad in Latin America, or want to practice your Spanish oratory skills, check out Cinegogia for some Latin American film ideas! Search by country, subject, language, and more!
5. Listen and Learn from music
Similar to movies and television, listening to music from the country or region where you studied abroad is a great way to feel connected to the place and people you have physically left behind. As I write this, I am listening to a Colombia singer who I had never heard of before going to Peru. For me, listening to certain songs often evokes certain memories and emotions from times abroad. Hearing songs can transport you back to those moments.
6. Improve the study abroad experience for future students
Study abroad alumni have the most powerful insight in regards to what the study abroad experience is truly like. In order to improve the experience for future students, your study abroad office and/or study abroad provider would likely LOVE to hear about your experiences and thoughts for how to improve the program.
Additionally, you may be able use your personal experience to offer ways to help these offices and companies to reach out to and inspire students to participate in the study abroad program that has positively affected you.
Hopefully some of these ideas will be helpful for those who have, or soon will, return home from studying abroad. The experience does NOT have to end when you get home. This is simply the next phase of the journey. The steps you take after returning home will build toward your future visit to the country or your next journey. Your study abroad experience is a launching pad for your future. So much awaits you!
Want to learn about international programs online that you can do to keep the vibe alive? Check out our newest Virtual Study Abroad program opportunities for the upcoming semesters!