4 Life Skills That You Can Develop as an International Student

Studying abroad intertwines academic growth and travel. Students often leave their home country and come home with an obvious edge in life.

Access to a world-class education gives international students the opportunity not only to learn but also develop essential life skills that allow them to face and manage challenges. These advantages boost their careers, leading them to a more secure and satisfying profession. 

Studying abroad isn’t all about the grade, the weight of your degree, or the reputation of the university you attend. International studies include a more holistic view of learning that inspires students to become better individuals.

As an international student, here are some of the life skills that you can gain while attending school abroad:

Adaptability

Aside from adapting to a different language, studying abroad also requires you to adapt to weather conditions, traditions, government laws, transportation, and social company that are different from what you grew up knowing.

The ability to quickly adapt to minimal to big changes can serve you well in life. It helps you prepare for unexpected events and become more resilient when dealing with abrupt changes.

Imagine working in a company a few years from now. You will be exposed to different types of people with varying personalities. The ability to adapt to this new environment will make your job easier and allow healthy relationships among co-workers to foster.

Courage

International students don’t get a lot of credit for how courageous they are. It takes courage to travel far away to achieve their dreams, and it takes even more courage to stay in a foreign land.

Courage comes in packages big and small and is often tested when you’re outside of your comfort zone. You build courage when you’re brave enough to deal with strangers or settle disagreements among your peers. 

Being courageous is a great skill that cultivates confidence and bravery. This can help you now while you take difficult exams or in the future when looking for a potential employer to land your dream job.

Cultural Awareness

As an international student, you will become aware of the manners, customs, and traditions of the country you’re studying in. 

In international relations, having cultural awareness makes you a desirable choice for employment. Companies nowadays are in the practice of integrating diversity into their core values.

People who have an understanding of different cultural backgrounds are more employable. Cultural awareness propagates the idea of respect despite differences. When you understand why different groups of people behave and interact with others the way they do, you will be able to interact with them in a way that they find acceptable, even pleasing. This is a truly valuable skill especially in business settings.

If you recognize that people grew up with different cultures, traditions, and customs, you would also be more open-minded and regard others and their ideas and beliefs without prejudice or discrimination. This skill helps you become not only a better team player in the workplace, but a better person overall.

Problem-Solving Skills

Having problem-solving skills as an international student would open doors that would lead to more opportunities in the future.  

Finding yourself in a difficult situation, such as getting lost in a new city or balancing studies with a part-time job, requires you to come up with solutions to address these challenges. Working out a plan teaches you to analyze a situation and assess what you can do using the resources available to you. This is a skill you can definitely use in other stages in your life.

Studying overseas is an opportunity to learn these life skills while getting access to world-class education. If you want to know more about how being an international student could benefit you, read our articles here on MSM Unify.