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The demand for going abroad has been increasing as educators promise college students a way to find themselves and distinguish themselves on their resumes once they graduate and move on to their careers. However, one must think critically on whether or not they should trust the source. In the book Psychological Science, they discuss common errors while try to think critically about a subject. One of the categories is “Failing to accurately judge source credibility: Who can you trust?”. Students may blindly accept facts from an authority figure they deem knowledgeable about the topic. However, students need to take into account they are trying to sell a product. In this case, they are trying to convince you to go study abroad (Halpern 8). I have always wanted to go to Spain. I have been studying Spanish for over eight years now and have been fascinated with the Hispanic culture. Even though I joined Por Colombia on campus, I think there is a growth opportunity when you go abroad that can’t be provided at home. How exactly does going abroad improve student’s ability to be a more well-rounded student at FSU? I sat down with Megan OMeara, an FSU student that did the first year abroad in Panama and asked her questions surrounding her growth as an individual. (GONNA CHANGE THIS COMPLETELY)

In order to become a better student at FSU, you need to be able to strive to meet the criteria of Diversity. In a study done by Soler, they look at whether or not people who go abroad grow in pragmatic routines. Pragmatic routines are the idea that each situation can have a literal meaning and/or a situational meaning. For example, someone could ask “do you want to grab food” and being able to infer that the person means they want to take you out or the literal meaning of just wanting to eat something. This is a hard skill to develop because a lot of these ideas are engrained in culture through movies and texts. In this instance for example, movies (find specific example) often have a guy ask a girl out for food as a way to say I am interested in you romantically, but in other cultures this may not be the case. The study observed pragmatic by giving each of the students a pre-and posttest where they have to read the situation and explain what is exactly happening. In the results, they showed that people who already knew the language did not show as many improvements as those who didn’t know the language at all. This makes sense due to the fact those who studied the culture and language for larger portions have time have less growth needed as those who didn’t. The study recognizes the fact that self-report studies are less accurate because the participants in the study may lie or exaggerate. However, the amount of people participating in those results make these findings more relevant. In terms of how this relates back to my research question, being able to read situations from students on our campus is important in terms of Diversity. Every culture may take certain phrases a certain way and having a basic understanding how someone else may infer your words leads our University to healthier relationships. Florida State strives to make everyone feel included and respected. Someone who goes abroad has a unique way of connecting everyone in our university by their newfound knowledge of that particular country and their current understanding of American culture.

Another addition to becoming a well-rounded student at FSU is through discovery. A case study done by Niehoff measured how students who went abroad change by the Five Factor Model. As stated by McCrae, “the well-established model Five Factor model (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism and openness) is widely accepted for its high reliability and temporal stability.” To look at each of these qualities within the students’ personality, the researchers did a self-report research study. They gathered individuals who are going abroad and those who were not and asked them to fill out this survey twice, once before and once after. Their hypothesis was that there will be an increase in conscientiousness, openness and agreeableness while the student will be less focused on themselves. After comparing the two different surveys, the claims in the hypothesis were supported by the responses (Niehoff).

In a case study done by Costello, she interviewed two students who went abroad. Kelsey went abroad in 2005 to West Africa. During Kelsey’s time, there she realized she should be more, “…grateful and I’m just, I guess more aware of how different things are for other people and how many advantages I have.”. Being in an environment that wasn’t as well off made her realize that she was lucky and she pushed herself to excel more in school and get more involved in activities. As for Alex, she found a passion in learning about another culture (Costello) As a student at Florida State, it is imperative that students find something they are interested in and want to continue exploring. The experience of going abroad for Alex allowed her to socialize with people from other countries, which she found she loved. She loved it so much she went back for a year and half and almost got married in Scandinavia (Costello). It is imperative to find yourself in college. Certain aspects can be obtained on campus, but others are difficult. Going abroad can allow someone to find more appreciation for what they have in comparison to others. As we can see from the past two studies, this can push students at FSU to go take the opportunities given by Florida State has to offer. The more involvement each student as FSU has increases the likelihood of a more positive experience for your college career and those around you.

In addition, being more interested in what others are doing instead of just yourself can open up a door to finding a passion that you have yet to discover, which can lead you down a road where you can find who you want to be. (Continue w/ Vocational study here)

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While this study can only prove correlation and not causation, Megan OMeara, a student at FSU, came to a similar conclusion through her own experience of going abroad. Megan decided to study abroad her first year at FSU because she wanted to have a journey. She never left her parents, not even for summer camp. She was nervous about leaving for Panama City for twelve months, but after twelve months, she was grateful she went because she developed more skills that would help her as a student at FSU. After reminiscing over some memories, Megan explain that due to the fact she went abroad she became “confident, independent, mature, and you get like these skills”. As the study suggests, these students come back being more aware and accepting of other cultures. In our Seminole Creed, one of our pillars is Diversity. While FSU is diverse, going to another country and learning how to integrate yourself into a society is a skill hard to learn on a college campus. The skill to understand how integrate yourself into the community and respect other cultures is helpful in making you a participating member at FSU and makes FSU a more accepting university when you have leaders like Megan. Megan OMeara has found herself being able to discuss important culture references with the Hispanic culture and this skill will allow her to build connections that leave with her when she graduates.