I don’t want to feel as “I would like an adventure, please fund it”
But I do think living outside the US gives a fresh perspective.
I would want them to attend info sessions and see how study abroad would fit in to their course plans.
I would like them to investigate how the program works and which countries/universities would be best for their major.
I would want to know if this would cost me extra and if so, would like for them to contribute.
I would want them to exhibit behavior of independence at home… so if at home you can’t keep your prescriptions up to date or arrange for a ride home, I don’t think you are ready to do that in another country.
I would probably want them to wait until end of sophomore/ or junior year.
My son had studied German since kindergarten and did a 3 week exchange his senior year where he lived with a non-English speaking family. When he came home, he wanted to apply for a year-long program in Germany. I discouraged that because another student from his high school had done the same program and they discouraged that student’s parents from visiting during the holidays. They wanted the students to have full emersion. I guess that I wasn’t ready for the empty nest at that time. So, son went off to college 5 hours away but was able to come home for breaks/holidays. During his sophomore year of college, he began exploring study abroad options. By then, I was used to him being away and we totally encouraged him. He studied in Denmark for a semester his junior year. Both my H and I are retired teachers who have done a fair amount of traveling and think it is a valuable part of being educated. My son is now 24 and has visited 22 countries on 4 continents. He applied to teach in Japan and South Korea but didn’t get accepted so started his grad school applications a year earlier than planned. I will not be surprised if he ends up living abroad at some point.
My parents don’t really like to travel so they weren’t completely supportive, but they knew it was something that I always wanted to do so they helped me through the process, but I paid for it all on my own.
I fundraised by selling coffee cakes to family and friends, worked extra hours, and asked all family for money for Christmas and shamelessly asked for donations at holiday parties haha.
My mother had very little control or say over me studying abroad - I had a full scholarship in college and raised the funds to study myself (by winning more scholarships). I still took her opinion into consideration. She was actually really supportive of the idea in general, but she didn’t want me to go anywhere in Africa. She’d stereotyped the entire region as full of strife and conflict. (We’re African American.) She really wanted me to go to Europe, which she regarded as clean and safe. I wanted go to anywhere but Europe - most American college students study abroad there and I wanted to to somewhere as different from the American culture as possible! I wanted a brand new experience and to learn a new language.
Through a series of strange events I ended up going to Europe anyway - and to the Netherlands, where most adults speak English flawlessly. I still learned a lot, and learned that not all European cultures are as similar to the U.S. as I originally thought. Still, if I could change one thing about my study abroad experience, I’d have gone somewhere else (I originally wanted to go to East Asia, and had always dreamed of studying in Japan).
There wasn’t any deep discussion, she kind of expected it I think honestly. I did it in high school for a year, and twice in college (summer & semester)
I went in high school to Italy - and at least there she knew I had family to look it for me should I need it (though I lived with a host family).
My mom has always been VERY pro traveling & living abroad (now at 23, I’ve been to 47 countries and have lived in 6)
My mother traveled extensively in her twenties and lived in Madrid for a few years. When I asked for a gap year abroad she’d said yes before I’d even finished the question.
my parents would agree in a heartbeat. My dad doesn’t really care about that stuff (so he won’t have much of an opinion) and my mom has lived all over the world so she highly advocates living abroad and developing an “international” mindset.