martes, 31 de mayo de 2011

Studying Abroad... An amazing experience?... It's up to you!


Studying abroad is an issue that most of students, of any place, wish in some way, and Chilean students are not the exception.

If we develop a survey among students who are doing a university course, the great majority of them agree that studying a postgraduate course abroad has many benefits to them; and some of these benefits could be summarize as it follows:

Studying a postgraduate course lets to students to become a master of their professions; it means, they can develop much more skills and a broaden view of their specialty which allow them to enhance the value of their degree. At the same time, if they have a more valuable degree, they could increase their options of employment and salary.

On the other hand, studying abroad gives students the opportunity of learning and being fluent at a different language of their own first language, since they will be immerse in that language, surrounded by it in an everyday routine and, in the proper context. In addition, to live in a foreign country allows people to learn about different cultures which are more than language, food or personal habits; so, being immerse in that culture, living it everyday gives them the chance of knowing it at first-hand. It is also important to mention the opportunity that postgraduate courses allow to student to visit and explore diverse places, taking a more deep view of the city where students are living, and therefore allowing them to know different people and make closer relationships which, at the end, are as important as the other benefits.

However, not everything is ideal, and studying a postgraduate course abroad means to spend big amounts of money since most of these courses are very expensive. What is more, countries which provide good courses are developed countries that have a high standard of life, and it means more money to spend in staying there. On the other hand, to be far away from family is not an easy matter to cope with because it means to be alone in a totally different place with a different culture which is not an easy job, and sometimes people become homesick which does not allow them to enjoy the experience.

So, studying abroad has not only many benefits but also some drawbacks that must be analyzed consciously when someone is thinking on taking this adventure. At the end, it is up to everyone to take the risk, so if you are willing to do it, enjoy it!

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