Is International Exchange Changing Concordia Students?
Studying Abroad Might Cause Students to See the World Through Rose-Coloured Glasses
Eager, smiling faces surround me as I walk through the atrium of the EV building on a Thursday afternoon. Several tables are lined up in two rows, each labelled with a different country.
Eager, smiling faces surround me as I walk through the atrium of the EV building on a Thursday afternoon. Several tables are lined up in two rows, each labelled with a different country.
Bright-eyed volunteers motion for students to come forward and hear about their life-changing, horizon-broadening experiences across the world.
Concordia International is preparing for a new year of sending students on exchange. I observe, skeptical of whether the experience is really all it’s cut out to be.
It’s no secret that students’ reasons for studying abroad are usually more culturally oriented than academic. Popular reasons include developing cross-cultural communication skills, improving foreign language skills and of course, the opportunity to travel.
A study conducted in 2007 by the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada asked Canadian institutions why they so heavily promoted studying abroad programs. Forty-four per cent responded that their goal was to create global citizens, 23 per cent responded that they wanted to increase international understanding, 11 per cent said it was a means to increase intercultural awareness, and 5 per cent to increase job skills and employability.
Julie Triganne from Concordia International explained that the university offers the international exchange program to give students the opportunity to gain first-hand knowledge of the world and have an international experience.
I have gained first-hand knowledge of the world, but in a different way than an international exchange student might.
I grew up in a missionary family. I am the third of five children, all of us born in different countries. The places my family has worked include Panama, Mexico, Thailand, China, Japan, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Taiwan.
From a young age, I saw poverty, hunger and disease. I’ve witnessed political corruption, social inequality and systemic disadvantage. I have seen the world in a different light than many Canadian university students my age.
While studying abroad might be a positive experience for a majority of university students, I believe there is a blatant lack of education concerning the disadvantaged and underprivileged on an international scale.
Removing the rose-coloured glasses is a crucial part of producing an educated generation of university graduates that will fight to make the world a better place. Despite the fact that study abroad programs harvest a majority of highly positive reviews, students may not be gaining enough access to their host country beyond studying and sightseeing—something they need to see in order to truly expand their thinking.
A survey conducted by the youth survey service YCONIC in 2014 revealed that the most popular locations for Canadian students are other English-speaking countries like the U.S., Australia and the U.K.
While studying abroad might be a positive experience for a majority of university students, I believe there is a blatant lack of education concerning the disadvantaged and underprivileged on an international scale.
While traveling to these locations may be an enjoyable experience, students could limit themselves to creating a comfortable, sheltered atmosphere where they are almost exclusively exposed to the privileged social class to which they already belong.
Heba Faoud, a current international exchange student from Egypt recounted her interactions with international exchange students coming to Egypt at the American University in Cairo.
“Most of the people come from North America and Asia. Most come because they are used to the university,” says Faoud. “What they all have in common is that they’re used to the system and at the same time are interested to know more about the country.”
Concordia does encourage students to expose themselves to the unfamiliar world of foreign lands. In the end, it depends on what the student expects to get from the experience and if they venture further than the university campus.
“We do encourage the students to make the most of their experience and we do tell them that it doesn’t stop with the school,” Triganne said. “It’s really important to make local friends, it’s really important to get to know the culture that you’re being invited into.”
Students who embark on the foreign exchange journey may forget that the exposure they receive could be that of an advantaged group. Depending on the destination chosen, exchange students may interact mostly with other exchange students, missing out on other experiences entirely.
Josh Lalonde, a student who attended the University of Nottingham in Malaysia admits that his cultural immersion may have been slightly limited.
“I was studying at a British University where, I’d say, half the students were international students, but there were some Malaysian students as well,” he says. “I did interact with them to some extent but it could have been more.”It all comes down to the individual who has chosen to go on exchange. Are they looking to broaden their cultural understanding or just to take an extended vacation?
Students need to be aware of the importance of exposing themselves to more than just tourist attractions while studying abroad.
At the end of the day, education is about instilling knowledge and opening people’s eyes. Studying abroad is an opportunity to broaden horizons and observe the world from a different perspective.
Educating oneself on the legitimate state of a nation through direct contact with locals, exploration and observing the non-wealthy side of a community is essential to the learning experience.
Just studying in a foreign country isn’t enough. If we as a generation are to change the world we live in, we need to know what it looks like—the beautiful and the ugly.
