Be a Global Citizen

Last week, I had an amazing conversation with the formal director of School Year Abroad in China, Jeff Bissell. For those who have a fuzzy idea what SYA is, it's been around for almost 50 years, the only program that allows secondary school students to live abroad with local families for a year, study in a local school, and to earn US high school credits still. Usually credit study abroad program is more common for college students.

The center question is what is the biggest challenge for high school students who want to attend the program in China. We understand that there are language barriers and the customs we are not familiar with. Beyond these renown challenges on the surface, there is one issue in the conversation that really catches my attention. In order to become a global citizen and successfully navigate from one culture to another, we have to change our perspective. We need to learn how others view us from their point of view.

Because the college study abroad program has gained more and more popularity, people in the host country, for example, China, have formed their perceptions of young Americans based on their experience with the American college students. Does these perceptions apply to high school students? Not all of them, of course. And perhaps not at all. High school students need to understand this but show the people their real selves, meaning you don't have to pretend that you are the college kid. You might have less experience traveling on your own. You might not be advanced in the language. You might need more guidance and help.

The teacher-student relationship is very different in China as well. The Chinese teachers expect students to take the full responsibility for learning. They might seem to be harsh at the beginning. But isn't it true that learning is students' responsibility? So if you show that you care about what you study and you are willing to put in all your efforts, the teacher will be impressed and possibly you will get easy access to help.

When you travel, you do need to take others' perspective into account. You don't need to change who you are. Nevertheless, it will definitely help if you change how you see things.