Yearly Archives: 2015

Providers Derby Results from Abroad101 – Summer 2015

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ProviderReviews-Aug2015There are so many options for studying abroad, where do you turn? 

One of the most trusted methods for Americans to study abroad comes through third-party provider organizations who manage the entire experience.  At Abroad101 we collect program evaluation/reviews about these providers and publish them on our study abroad review website.  We also compile the ratings that students give the providers which you can use as an indicator of quality.  Review scores are one indicator, the number of reviews is another.

Organizations that encourage or even require their students to complete reviews understand the value of listening to their customers (students) and using that those testimonials to better inform future students as to what to expect in their programs.  Progressive providers also help students promote their own stories and success in education abroad by publishing their first hand accounts through a review.  As the old saying goes, “an educated consumer is the best kind” so we hope that you’ll use the reviews on Abroad101.com to better educate yourself on your options in education abroad.  

Twice a year we produce the Abroad101 Providers Derby – the index of published reviews on Abroad101 to give a sense as to who is making a difference in study abroad.  We encourage you to use this information to help you to make an educated choice for your education abroad.

Providers

  1. IES Abroad
  2. International Studies Abroad/ISA
  3. CIEE
  4. CEA
  5. Arcadia
  6. SIT Study Abroad
  7. IFSA-Butler
  8. DIS – Study Abroad in Scandinavia
  9. USAC
  10. API/Academic Programs International
  11. AIFS
  12. The Education Abroad Network (TEAN)
  13. Boston University
  14. SOL Education Abroad
  15. CAPA The Global Education Network
  16. ISEP Exchange
  17. CET Academic Programs
  18. CISabroad/Center for International Studies
  19. Fairfield University
  20. The School for Field Studies/SFS
  21. AMIDEAST

Abroad101 Student of the Week #0059 – Camryn Garrett

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Camryn Garrett profileOur 59th Abroad101 Student of the Week is Camryn Garrett, an upcoming sophomore at Bay Shore High School. At such a young age Camryn already has ambitions to travel abroad!! And guess what?! She’s found the perfect opportunity with People to People to do just that!

This amazing opportunity will allow her to experience daily life in Europe, with a homestay in France and a farmstay in Italy! What better way to understand another culture than by experiencing it firsthand? She will also be touring iconic monuments such as the Colosseum and the Vatican! Through it all she will be able to experience the local communities and connect with a different culture, all while receiving school credit! This sounds like an opportunity that this rising high school sophomore should definitely not pass up. And don’t worry, she’s doing everything she can to make this goal a reality and has even started a fundraising Mission to help cover the costs! Check it out here.

The Abroad101 Student of the Week initiative awards a student who created a Mission for a study abroad program on GoEnnounce with a donation to their fundraiser. Learn more about this partnership from Abroad101 CEO Mark Shay and GoEnnounce co-founder Melissa Davis here.

Stay tuned for our next Abroad101 Student of the Week!

 

Abroad101 Student of the Week #0058 – Hannah Goulian

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Hannah-Goulian-Barcelona

This week’s Abroad101 Student of the Week is Hannah Goulian, a junior at Bryant University. Hannah is a communications major with a minor in business administration & legal studies. She is part of the Bryant University Chace Wellness Center Gym and has been on the Dean’s list while in school. Hannah has been divided on her future which is between being an entrepreneur that owns her own gym or working in law to help others around her. Regardless of the path she chooses (which both sound awesome!) she knows she wants to further her education!

To assist her with this quest on deciding her future, she is going to be studying abroad with API abroad!  Her journey consists of traveling to Barcelona, Spain where she will be exposed to an immense amount of culture and the opportunity to travel around Europe.  Hannah is fundraising to cover the costs of the flights, education fees, housing and even dining on the delicious food. But don’t worry, she is also working over the summer as well as taking a summer internship to make this goal a reality!  We have no doubt that this memorable experience will help Hannah realize her dreams!

The Abroad101 Student of the Week initiative awards a student who created a Mission for a study abroad program on GoEnnounce with a donation to their fundraiser.

Stay tuned for our next Abroad101 Student of the Week!

About API in Barcelona Spain:

API offers comprehensive semester, summer and academic year programs at the University of Barcelona Spanish language and culture. A students language level is determined by a placement exam administered upon arrival by the University of Barcelona.

Summer students primarily participate in the Spanish language and culture program.

Learn more: https://www.studyabroad101.com/programs/api-academic-programs-international-barcelona-university-of-barcelona#

Cool Program of the Week in Oxford

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UK-Oxford-Univ of Oxford

University of Oxford: Oxford – Visiting Student Programme

Tired of easy, boring classes?  Love to study and hang out with scholars?  Ready to up your academic game?  Try a year (no semesters or short terms) at the world’s best university, it may just be the hardest thing you ever do which is why the Visiting Students Programme is our cool program of the week.

If you are a student from overseas (in most cases countries outside the EU) and wish to spend up to one year in Oxford on a course related to a degree in your own country, you can apply to a college for a place as a Visiting Student. As a Visiting Student you become a member of an Oxford college, and it is the college that will arrange for your tuition. Oxford does not award a degree or any other qualification for one year of study as a Visiting Student, but colleges are willing to provide a record of achievement, for example for credit purposes.

Read reviews about this program and/or apply at: https://www.studyabroad101.com/programs/university-of-oxford-visiting-students

Abroad101 Provider Newsletter – Early Summer 2015

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Abroad101-reviews-logo-webLike many who exhibited at NAFSA, we are energized by the show of support and growth in awareness that comes from the Exhibit Hall spotlight.  We handed out nearly 1,000 T-Shirts and the message of Free Program Evaluation Software rang through to many study abroad advisors and administrators in attendance.  In case you missed the latest news, here’s an update on Abroad101 for those of you who offer education abroad programs to American students.

New Subject of Study Portals

In May we released subject area portals, dedicated directories of study abroad programs in over 400 academic disciplines.  Students and Advisors can now easily find academic focused programs in subjects ranging from Accounting to Zoology.  The subject areas are organized using the US Department of Education’s CIP codes (Classification for Instructional Programming), a first for the study abroad field.  The CIP taxonomy has very specific fields of study rolled up into more general categories.  As a program provider, we encourage you to update your program listings and add the relevant fields of study.  We also suggest you pick carefully as students in this area are looking for specific courses, and in many cases looking to fulfill a course requirement.  Please note these should refer to the subject area taught, not the students’ academic majors.

Please Update/Edit Your Free Listings

Your account dashboard also lets you edit the contents of your program listings on Abroad101. We encourage you to use the friendly format to update your listings this summer and add subjects as well as engaging content.  If you need to have program titles changed, locations edited, or host universities added, our quality control process requires this be made from our end.  Our crew is ready and happy to help you with these; please send those details by email to support@abroad101.com

Add Scholarships to Your Listings

Another item in the providers account dashboard is the “Scholarships Available” tool that allows you to add scholarships to your listings.  You’ll find this on the left side of your dashboard, under “Provider.”  You can list multiple scholarships and link these directly to the scholarships page on your website.  The scholarships you enter will appear under the “Financial Aid” tab of the matching program listing(s) on Abroad101.  Please note that the Scholarships Available option is not part of the account dashboard for foreign universities.  Foreign universities should include mention of any scholarship options in the general description of their listing.

Review Your Reports:

As part of your account dashboard, on the lower left side, you will find a few report options.  “Graphs” tallies the star ratings submitted by students in their reviews and allows for some comparison of your program against all others, as well as by country. These categories include: overall, academics, program administration, housing, food, social integration, heath care, safety and cost of living. The resulting pie charts can be copied and pasted into your management reports and provide some added insight into how students perceive your programs.

Bring Advisors on Board

Advisors are a key component in Abroad101’s marketing and are responsible for bringing the vast majority of reviews to Abroad101.  As a provider, you can help this process by generating student reviews at the colleges in which you have a strong following. Here are a couple of ways to see how a university performs for you:

  • University Name in Review Summary: For Provider organizations, find your program summary listing all your programs.  Under the tab that says “Study Abroad Reviews” you will see a summary of all your reviews.  There you will also see the home university of the reviewer identified.  For Foreign Universities, find your “Direct Enrollment and Exchange” listing and you’ll see the university name in the review summaries. 
  • University Pages on Abroad101: Each home university also has a summary page.  Use the search box at the top right of the site to find universities where you think you should be well represented.
  • Pre-Approvals List: In your account dashboard (log into Abroad101), at the bottom left is a report called “University Approvals” which will indicate which universities using Abroad101 have selected which of your programs in their pre-approved programs list.

Once you know how well your key universities engage with Abroad101, please contact us about engaging them further.  Together we can bring Abroad101 into their process and help them use the tools to help draw more reviews, more visibility, and ultimately more students to study abroad.

Utilize the Program Widget

For programs that look especially appealing on Abroad101’s website, we recommend that you use the Abroad101 program widget to share your results. The Program Widget creates a badge-like graphic for your website that includes a star-rating icon and a link to the reviews.  There is no cost to use the Program Widget and it is easy to install as a photo.  Add the widget it to your website and directories and encourage staff to add it to their blog sites.  Hopefully you’ll get your partner universities to install it on their websites too!  Create your widget by adding your program name and the width of the resulting graphic, click here to start  Then follow the instructions to add it to the websites of your choice.  There’s no limit to the number of sites/pages that can display that code, so add this to your list of summer projects!

Targeted Advertising

As you have hopefully seen, the strength of Abroad101 is in its detail.  Most site visitors are in the middle of their selection process, and use the wealth of content to research and set the expectations of the students and their families that support them. We estimate that 20-25% of our traffic comes from parents who often use the search term “reviews” along with program/provider/city names.  Reaching students, parents, and advisors deeper in the process means inquiries that come from Abroad101 are much more likely to enroll.  Advertising on Abroad101 can influence the final decision, as the impressions that come through in the research phase of program selection may well be the ones that trigger the decision to apply.  Remember: when you see “App” in the inquiry type, this means a student has checked the box that says “I want to apply to this program.”  This may not only be a strong lead, but may also be a conversion of a student you already know.

As you enter into your new budgets and marketing plans for the upcoming year, think of using Abroad101 by program.  If you have programs that need a boost, consider advertising them above the others.  Small and special focus programs, for example, often do well on Abroad101. With the new subject portals included at no added cost, you have even more reasons to include more of Abroad101 in your advertising budget.  We can customize a campaign to meet any budget; please download our ad guide and contact sales@abroad101.com to get started.

Alumni Job Board and Abroad101’s career initiatives

Abroad101 enthusiastically supports efforts to raise the number of students studying abroad and we believe strongly that a well-written, thoughtful, and insightful review can also help students jump-start their career.  Many of you are aware of the Linkedin Group we manage called The Study Abroad Advantage. If you haven’t done so yet, please direct your alumni and alumni relations contacts to this group.  As another step to help ensure that study abroad will be an advantage for students during their career search, we created the first job board dedicated to study abroad alumni. In addition to a range of jobs that may interest these students, the Study Abroad Alumni Job Board highlights positions that REQUIRE a study abroad experience.  We hope that when you are looking to hire, you’ll post your positions on the site: http://Jobs.StudyAbroad101.com

Happy Summer!

 

Mark Shay / CEO

Abroad101

+1-610-357-4648

mark@abroad101.com

http://www.StudyAbroad101.com

 

Follow Abroad101 on Social Media:

Facebook | Twitter |  Pinterest | Instagram | Linkedin

 

 

Abroad101 Advisor Newsletter Summer 2015

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Abroad101-reviews-logo-webHappy Summer from Abroad101,

With students overseas or off-campus during the summer months, most study abroad offices are quiet, which gives staff a window to tackle some strategic projects.  We hope one of these projects will be deeper integration with the free tools and services offered by Abroad101.  In this newsletter we’ll provide some insight into the Abroad101 software and ways in which you might use it to advance study abroad on your campus.

Re-entry in a Box:

Before jumping into the nuts & bolts of the system, please take a minute to think about Abroad101 as a method/vehicle to guide student re-entry from their time away.  Some colleges use the Abroad101 system as their official program evaluation platform. 

The Abroad101 survey offers a review of the entire study away experience in ways that encourage the student to think and write reflectively while providing criticism and praise to multiple of aspects of their program.  Students have a chance to take responsibility for their actions, give a sense of who they were before they went and who they think they are now. 

While technically evaluating a program, ultimately the reviewer is offering a testimonial to their personal growth and achievement.  This in turn speaks as much to the success of a program as the star ratings that accompany their review.  Colleges can also add their own questions to the 37-question standard survey if they feel something more specific needs to be included in the evaluation.

Reviews Help Students/Parents Prepare for Study Abroad

Reviews are often used for a variety of reasons, including researching program selection and to help set expectations.  For future students and their families, the reviews from previous students provide good insight as to what to expect and situations to be aware of.  That’s why a number of advisors use Abroad101 reviews in pre-departure orientation exercises and we’ve even heard of some program managers using reviews as part of their arrival orientation (think first postings to new student Facebook groups.) 

With this in mind, adding links from your program webpages to Abroad101 program listings can help your study abroad community better prepare.  Abroad101 gives each program its own web page and we welcome your link to it.  Find the program here and copy the link for your website.

Another option is to link to your university profile that lists pre-approved/recommended programs and all the reviews generated by study abroad alumni from your university.  Every university has a profile on Abroad101 and you have the ability to update and manage it.  Use the search box at the top of any page on Abroad101 to find your university profile.  If you need access to this portal, please contact support@abroad101.com

Abroad101’s widgets allow content from the reviews to be displayed on your website.  We have a University Widget that works in conjunction with your pre-approved list and a Program Widget that creates a badge like graphic for a single program.  No contract or paperwork required, just use the tool, copy the code and install it on your website or as an addition to your own program search in your directory system.

Abroad101 Program Widget

Abroad101 University Widget

Connecting Reviews to your Enrollment or CRM System

We have been pushing to get Abroad101’s process of program evaluation and our set of questions as a standard part of everyone’s study abroad.  The students give us a lot of data that a growing number of institutions are using in their analysis and management of education abroad.   Abroad101 is set up to pass that data to you in several ways:

  1. “Graphs” tool in your account dashboard compares the scores of the individual ratings questions.  You can see how your students do against 24,000 other study abroad reviews. 
  2. “Export to Excel” function that creates a spreadsheet with all of the data collected in each review, including any custom fields that you have added.
  3. “API” is a computer system linkage that allows your system to dynamically pull the review in.  Your programmers use the unique API key and the review serial number to get the review pulled into your systems.

The Power of the Review Serial Number:

The Export and API functions are even more powerful when this data can get tied to the student’s account in your computer system.  Key to this linking is the Abroad101 review serial number.  Each Abroad101 review gets its own serial number and if you enter that serial number after “/reviews/” it will redirect to the full program link.  For a recent review, serial # 29619 can be viewed here http://www.studyabroad101.com/reviews/29619

If the advisor or the student enters the serial number into your student information system, you can forever refer to the review.  We recently posted an article with one creative way the serial number can be utilized in Terra Dotta Software and similar systems.

Review them all – Faculty-led, Exchange and Third-Party!

Abroad101 allows you to manage program evaluations for each type of study abroad program, or them all.  For example, Abroad101 has more than 1,700 foreign universities listed on the site, each with a catch-all listing for your outbound exchange students.  Through Abroad101 your students can review any of the 4,000 third-party programs or if you’d like, we can add your own to the 4,500 faculty-led/university-run programs in the directory.  University-run programs listed on Abroad101 even have the option to be listed as home-students-only which means they will be listed as closed to outside students, yet you get all the advantages of Abroad101’s reporting, data collection and the publishing tool for students to generate insightful, powerful and career-boosting testimonials of their experience abroad.  Since 2007, Abroad101 is Fast. Free. Easy.

It all Starts with an Invitation

To get any of these projects going, you do need reviews and the best way to get reviews is to invite or require your students to submit one.  It has been our experience that students won’t take the time to review a program unless told to do so.  You can encourage them, offer them incentive, insist a published testimonial will be a good jump start to their careers, or tell them it’s required, but tell them something to make these tools work for you.  Direct or link them to the program page on Abroad101 where they will find a “Write a Review” icon or have them start here: http://www.studyabroad101.com/reviews/new

Contact Us:

As the summer progresses we hope you won’t hesitate to contact us with any requests or questions.  We welcome the chance to present our system to you in a web demo or though a telephone conference call, please send those requests to support@abroad101.com.

Thanks for your referrals and support and best wishes for a Happy Summer!

 

Mark Shay

CEO / Abroad101

+1-610-357-4648

mark@abroad101.com

http://www.StudyAbroad101.com

Follow Abroad101 on Social Media:

Facebook | Twitter |  Pinterest | Instagram | Linkedin

 

 

Where to turn to find an apartment abroad?

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InPerugia (1)Studying abroad is a growing phenomenon, to say the least. The number of students who study in another part of the world each year is increasing at a rapid pace. As more students are studying abroad globally, housing is becoming more of a challenge for individuals and programs as the housing market is limited in what programs and third party providers can offer. Not all programs have the same housing options, but if renting your own apartment is a possibility, we highly recommend it.

Programs that have long standing relationships with staff in local markets give students and parents a sense of security and have been an incremental factor in study abroad growth. Program providers are constantly looking to balance the issues of housing cost, availability, service, and proximity and how that relates to their program operations. However, what if the program you are considering doesn’t offer housing options you are comfortable with, where do you turn?

And that’s where we come in! Study Abroad Apartments (SAA) provides an easy, convenient and reliable way to ensure the best housing accommodations possible. We take away the stress from the seemingly confusing process, and efficiently take care of the work for you.

Why find your own housing?

Finding housing for a program or group of students can be challenging enough. As a student you want to know where you will be living before going. This process is challenging because many of the real estate markets simply are not advanced in being transparent with foreign students studying in their country, Avoid the problems that can occur when relying on someone else to make housing decisions for you. Know exactly where you’ll be living, the facilities that will be available to you, and the layout of the house before you arrive. The most common mistake students make before they study abroad is not finalizing living arrangements before leaving home.

Choosing where to live before leaving for study abroad will provide parents, and program directors, along with yourself, a peace of mind and sense of security. Second, it’s just as important to virtually see what your apartment or housing will look like before arrival. Seeing the facility through a website that offers a transparent view and process in booking apartments can save time, money, and a lot of headaches. Read reviews about STUDY ABROAD APARTMENTS to understand the housing options of a given program or for groups of independent students.

Study Abroad Apartments focuses on providing safe, affordable, and reliable apartments for programs as well as students, along with quality customer service. No longer is it necessary to worry about finding housing abroad. Study Abroad Apartments works hand in hand with program providers and students to facilitate and assure proper housing placement. We have a variety of apartments based on budget, location, size, and amenities! Additional services are also available depending on the city such as: airport pick up, laundry delivery, apartment cleaning, night guard security, and a variety of other benefits. Study Abroad Apartments has modernized the way the new generation of students and programs are finding housing options abroad! Read more about them here: STUDY ABROAD APARTMENTS.COM

By renting an independent housing facility, you are not risking the chance of living in undesirable quarters for an extended period of time simply because of the program you chose to study in. In addition, when renting your own apartment, you get to choose your roommates! It is very comforting knowing that you’ll be living with peers/friends that you are comfortable with, rather than being paired with someone who is a total stranger. And if you don’t want to go with someone you were previously friends with, that’s okay too. We can pair you with someone you don’t know, but that you can feel comfortable with and that is the right roommate for you. Where you live and with who you live with s a huge part of the experience, so it is in your best interest to take control of the housing situation and make sure everything goes as planned and in the best situation possible.

Where can you live?

Study Abroad Apartments currently has apartments available in 9 cities: Barcelona, Florence, Paris, Prague, Rome, Seville and Tel-Aviv. In each city there is a wide variety of apartments to choose from, according to how many people you want to live with and various other factors. Our apartments are located in the most desirable areas for study abroad students, and will serve to provide students with the best and safest experiences possible.

A huge concern for parents – safety

Have no fear, SAA is here! SAA has teamed up with the best and most reliable travel agencies to ensure that each student has access to anything and everything needed when abroad. In addition, reach us at any time via phone/email to answer questions and address concerns. Finally our team handles all financial exchanges between students and landlords, so there will never be any uncertainty about getting scammed or having misunderstandings with foreigners.

Pricing?

While our apartments are not the cheapest, it is because we find the best quality apartments for the best prices. So you will not be paying for an overpriced apartment, while still getting the quality that is necessary to have the best living situation possible. Our payment methods are flexible, and we do our best to accommodate to how you wish to pay for the apartment.

Okay, you’re sold on SAA. Now how do you start?

We have established an easy, quick and reliable way to find housing. Just log onto our site (www.studyabroadapartments.com) and select the city that you plan to study abroad in, as well as the number of people you would like to live with. From here, you are instantly provided with a list of available apartments that best fit your plan. Once you find the apartment that you find most desirable for your stay, just fill out the booking form and we will get back to you with further details shortly!

 

Guest Blogger

Ryan Blum, CEO | Study Abroad Apartments LLC 

New York, NY

5 things to do before studying abroad

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Anyone who has ever studied abroad will tell you that it was one of the best experiences of their life. What’s not to like about seeing a new part of the world, making new friends, exploring independently, and making memories that will last a lifetime? But before you head off, there’s a few things you need to do. To make it easy for you, here’s five simple tips to make your year abroad go smoothly.

Choose the right program. Do you want to study abroad for a full year or just six months? Most universities tend to offer half-year courses for exchange students, but there are longer courses on offer. Read as many reviews as you can, speak to former students who took the course, and ask for advice from your university’s study abroad adviser. Honestly, you will have an amazing time regardless of the program, but it’s still important to choose the right program for you!

Pack light. Some students who study abroad choose to ship a few boxes over to their new destination, but some take the bare minimum and buy what they need when they arrive. From my experience, I’d suggest travelling as lightly as possible, especially if you’re only there for six months. You can buy all your essentials in your destination country, and it’s a great way of getting out and exploring your new town or city at the same time.

Want to work while you’re abroad? This is a great idea to earn some extra money in your spare time and blend in with the locals. Of course, you’ll want to travel around your destination country, so you’ll definitely need the money! That said, you’ll need to make sure you’re up to speed with employment legislation and find out if you’re eligible to work or if there’s any documentation you’ll need to arrange before you go.

Work out where you’ll live. Some universities offer accommodation for exchange students, but some will leave that up to you to sort out. Don’t assume that your accommodation will be sorted and ready for you when you step off the plane – find out where you’ll be staying and if you need to make any arrangements yourself.

Write up a budget. Never done this before? Well, now is the time to learn! If you’re studying in Eastern Europe or South East Asia, you’ll find the cost of living to be significantly cheaper than what you’re used to – but you may end up spending more if you head to Australia, the UK, or one of the Nordic countries. It’s important that you have a general idea of how much you’ll be spending on a monthly basis and you’ll probably find in your first couple of months, you’ll end up spending way more than you originally anticipated!

See your doctor. No one likes going to the doctor, but this is really important, especially if you’re travelling to somewhere off the beaten track. You might need certain immunizations or medication, and if you’re on repeat medication, order enough to cover you for the length of your study period. You’ll also need your doctor to write up a letter to accompany your medication, as customs often ask to see this when you arrive.

It might seem like there’s a lot to do before you head off on your study abroad adventure (see here for a few more tips), but once you’ve got it all out of the way, you can do all the fun things – like planning your weekend getaways, making travel plans, and reading city guidebooks! There will no doubt be things you can’t plan for and a few bumps along the way, but hopefully these tips will help you hit the ground running.

 

Guest Posting from Victoria Moretti, a professional writer from the UK who contributes to Abroad101 from time to time. Victoria loves to write about businesses and macro economic affairs that move the needle. Her other loves include travel, long walks and flat whites.

Using Terra Dotta and Abroad101

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terra dotta logoAbroad101.com write a reviewAbroad101-reviews-logo-web

 

 

 

 

If you use Terra Dotta software (TDS) to manage your study abroad enrollments, you can still use Abroad101 as your program evaluation tool.

While managing the full lifecycle of applications with Terra Dotta, Abroad 101 adds the ability to oversee the publishing of student reviews, summary reporting, and the ability to compare ratings from your students against those at other institutions.

Interested in learning how to add Abroad101 Reviews to your Terra Dotta software?

Please read the full article here: http://oldblog.studyabroad101.com/using-abroad101-with-terra-dotta-software/

Resiliency as a Post Study Abroad Skill

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Two hands stretching spring.Stretched spring. Resistance and opposition metaphor.

Be resilient – Bounce back

With study abroad on the rise and pressure for recent graduates to kick off a dynamic career in their chosen field (and avoid a lengthy stay living at home and working as a barista!), there is much talk in the media and international education circles about what skills are derived from an education abroad experience. We often hear about skills gained in the areas of linguistic ability (of varying degrees), observation and agility. On a recent Cultural Career Cohort discussion with Jamie Gelbtuch, Founder of Cultural Mixology, the concept of “resiliency” came up as an important and valid skill for those who have a study abroad experience. I was intrigued.

According to The Resiliency Center, resiliency can be defined as “Able to recover quickly from misfortune, able to return to original form after being bent, compressed, or stretched out of shape. A human ability to recover quickly from disruptive change or misfortune without being overwhelmed or acting in dysfunctional or harmful ways.”

Jamie mentioned this center to explore resiliency and suggested that we take the quiz, so I did. I scored an 82 (“very resilient”) and upon reading the description, realized how much my experiences abroad have impacted how I approach life and work. Those moments of being uncomfortable, trying to learn new words in a completely new language, getting lost, having my breath taken away by new experiences – they all synthesized into skill building of the highest order.

Here is some of what the quiz informed me about my own resiliency. The interpretation of the score I received includes many characteristics, but these are the unique behaviors that I think most speak to qualities that can be directly related to the power of academic travel. I can easily imagine them being utilized in an interview setting. I took the liberty of providing an overarching heading for each point:

  • Diplomacy: Express feelings honestly. Experience can express anger, love, dislike, appreciation, grief–the entire range of human emotions honestly and openly. Can also choose to suppress their feelings when they believe it would be best to do so.
  • Curious and Risk Taking: Playful, childlike curiosity.Ask lots of questions, want to know how things work. Play with new developments. Enjoy themselves as children do. Have a good time almost anywhere. Wonder about things, experiment, make mistakes, get hurt, laugh. Ask: “What is different now? What if I did this? Who can answer my questions? What is funny about this?”
  • Lifelong Learner and the Ability to Reflect: Constantly learn from experience.Rapidly assimilate new or unexpected experiences and facilitate being changed by them. Ask “What is the lesson here? What early clues did I ignore? The next time that happens I will….”
  • Positive: Expects things to work out well.Deep optimism guided by internal values and standards. High tolerance for ambiguity and uncertainty. Can work without a job description, is a good role model of professionalism. Has a synergistic effect, brings stability to crises and chaos. Ask “How can I interact with this so that things turn out well for all of us?”
  • Solution Oriented: Read others with empathy.See things through the perspectives of others, even antagonists. Win/win/win attitude in conflicts. Ask “What do others think and feel? What is it like to be them? How do they experience me? What is legitimate about what they feel, say, and do?”
  • Always Improving: Gets better and better every decade.Become increasingly life competent, resilient, durable, playful, and free. Spend less time surviving than others and survive major adversities better. Enjoy life more and more.

Imagine your students being able to speak to these skills in an interview instead of sharing the typical language around “deals well with ambiguity” or being “highly adaptable.” Taking the quiz and linking the skills back to specific experiences will help study abroad alumni understand how resilient they are and will certainly provide new language to differentiate themselves from the applicant pool.

Having students write in their personal journals about challenging times upon their return home is also a way to explore resiliency. For example, students charged with putting themselves in new and uncomfortable situations back at home (for example, taking a bus to a part of their town with its own subculture that they have not explored before) is one way to affordably open up the door of discomfort. Getting lost, observing, and engaging appropriately in an unfamiliar environment allow for practice of various resilient qualities. Writing as an intentional journal activity to consider more deep reflection on such an activity helps a student to hone in on articulating these fresh skills further. Journal prompts could include:

  • What did you observe?
  • What feelings surfaced for you as you embarked in this new community?
  • How did this experience remind you of your time abroad?
  • How did you succeed in this situation? How did you fail?
  • What could you have done differently, upon reflection?
  • What resilient qualities did you utilize in this new experience?
  • How did these qualities help you to engage and reflect?

Visual learners can be prompted to take a photo of their domestic sojourn as a jumping off point to illustrate and describe the experience and can use the same set of thoughtful journaling prompts.

For the career and education abroad advisors out there, what ideas do you have to gently adjust your re-entry programming to explore the concept of resiliency? Share your thoughts in the comments below so that we can share ideas!

 

Missy Gluckmann

Melissa Gluckmann, contributor to the Studyabroad101 Blog and founder of Melibee GlobalMissy Gluckmann is the Founder of Melibee Global, which aims to elevate the discussion about education abroad, culture, diversity and the lifelong path to global citizenship by offering trailblazing tools, speakers and professional development for the global education and travel communities. Raised in New York, Missy has lived abroad three times and traveled to dozens of countries. Missy currently resides in North Carolina and experiences culture shock there on a daily basis! She can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.