{"id":4171,"date":"2012-08-01T10:51:07","date_gmt":"2012-08-01T14:51:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/?p=4171"},"modified":"2012-08-23T11:41:10","modified_gmt":"2012-08-23T15:41:10","slug":"guest-blog-studying-abroad-at-harvard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/2012\/08\/01\/guest-blog-studying-abroad-at-harvard\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blog: Studying Abroad at Harvard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Naa Ammah-Tagoe, Harvard College Class of 2010 and Harvard Graduate School of Education Class of 2013 (expected)
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been four months since you got into Harvard. Four months to scream, celebrate, pinch yourself, and practice dropping the H-bomb. In this foretaste of the next four years, you\u2019ve done the research, made the visits, read the websites, and talked to students and alumni alike.<\/p>\n

That thoughtfulness and attention to detail will still serve you well, but it\u2019s time to take a deep breath. You will <\/em>have time to take advantage of everything Harvard offers in Cambridge. But there\u2019s a little secret that few people will come out and say: as a Harvard undergraduate you can\u2019t afford not <\/em>to study abroad. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

Advantage #1. It will give you an edge over your peers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be practical: that\u2019s part of the reason you said yes to Harvard. You\u2019re about to surround yourself with 6, 400 hard-working, brilliant, and unique peers, and studying abroad will help you distinguish yourself.<\/p>\n

\"Office<\/a>

The Office of International Education\u2019s 2009-2010 student advisors. These Harvard alums and travelers are working in graduate programs, embassies, consulting firms, schools, and businesses as far away as France and Singapore<\/p><\/div>\n

At Harvard and beyond, people with significant international experience stand out. Whether you\u2019re a U.S. citizen without a passport or an international student, a religion concentrator or premed, you will benefit from living abroad. Professors, future employers, grad school admissions officers, and even future friends appreciate the credibility earned only by spending time in another country. That\u2019s because they know you\u2019ll be an asset with advantage #2:<\/p>\n

Advantage #2. You\u2019ll gain valuable insight about your skills, desires, goals and yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cross-cultural immersion forces you to assess your abilities, knowledge, assumptions and lifestyle preferences in a way nothing else can. You\u2019ll learn how to learn, analyze, and lead in a profoundly different way. My first three months in Paris did more good for my French than eight years of study could; by the time I left Sciences Po most of the French people would have sworn I was a native speaker. I encountered the best aspects of the French educational system, as well as top students from universities around the world. Upon my return, I was better practiced in building relationships with professors and experimenting with new coursework and extracurricular experiences; these newfound skills helped me enjoy my senior year.<\/p>\n

When you think about studying abroad, consider semester or year-long experiences in addition to summer offerings. Not only will the additional time make you and your experiences more unique (hello, #1!), it will also allow you time to truly integrate into, not merely observe, the new culture. Believe me, four months is barely enough time as it is to grapple with everything you\u2019ll learn, and…<\/strong><\/p>\n

Advantage #3. You will never regret the experience.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, you\u2019d more likely regret not<\/em> going now. What better time to explore the world than when you\u2019re young and relatively carefree, with teams of professionals offering guidance and a university supporting your experience? If those practical benefits don\u2019t convince you, maybe the romance of it will. And with the bonds you\u2019ll build, you\u2019ll be in for lifelong friendships and adventures too.<\/p>\n

\"Pigalle<\/a>

The best exploits, finest foods, and even most memorable mistakes of my life involve the people I lived with and loved in Paris. Since we met in August 2008, we\u2019ve traveled and reunited in Boston, Canada, France, Spain, England, Germany, Argentina, Thailand, and Singapore.<\/p><\/div>\n

One last thing, be sure to check out the student videos<\/a> on the Office of International Education <\/a>website to hear directly from former students about their experiences abroad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naa Ammah-Tagoe, Harvard College Class of 2010 and Harvard Graduate School of Education Class of 2013 (expected) It\u2019s been four months since you got into Harvard. Four months to scream, celebrate, pinch yourself, and practice dropping the H-bomb. In this foretaste of the next four years, you\u2019ve done the research, made the visits, read the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2494,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37316],"tags":[29804,64848,37341],"class_list":["post-4171","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blogger","tag-international-opportunities","tag-oie","tag-study-abroad"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2494"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4171"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4485,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4171\/revisions\/4485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/collegeadmissionsstudentblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}