Once I asked a student from Lithuania — now a good friend of mine on Facebook — to tell me about life in his home country. “It’s just like everywhere else. The world is so globalized, you know,” he said.
I then turned to a peer from the South African Republic. “Oh, things are so different there. It’s a former colony. You can’t erase that,” he said, his twittering British accent sounding like music. My mind went numb for a moment: In just ten minutes I’d made a trip from Lithuania to the SAR and back to Germany. Was my stupefaction plain jet lag?
On both sides of the Atlantic, think tanks testify that we’re now living in the era of “trans-”: These are the times of transgender, transculture, transeconomies, transpolitics, transmedia, and trans- what not. Humans have transgressed and blurred all sorts of boundaries and lines. It seems that today, in order to survive and make sense of all that’s happening around you, you simply have to be some sort of “trans.” It’s a century of hybrids.
International student exchanges are a perfect way to create these hybrids — that is, people with a profound understanding of more than one culture. Through communication with their peers, students easily adjust to the customs and social norms of their guest countries. Curious and psychologically flexible, they learn as they go.
Not only that.
Switching off or toning down their national selves during their stay abroad, exchange students put themselves into the shoes of the others; they get a new perspective and broaden their horizons. Their once purely-national outlooks get infused with new views and perceptions. Going back to their home countries, exchange programs alumni — even by accident — promote a better and more tolerant attitude to other societies and cultures.
Critics argue, however, that student and academic exchanges instigate brain drain and provoke a misbalance of intelligence capital between certain parts of the world. Indeed, many of the exchange students, once they adjust to living in a new society, prefer to stay there rather than return to their home countries.
Although this statement has a lot of ground, it is not true in 100 percent of cases: A large percentage of students do go back and help instill progressive changes at home. Empowered by their international experience, their knowledge, and new insights, they become active members of their societies. They contribute to fighting poverty and inequality; they work to shape a better, more democratic and rightful future.
Some international students do not intend to return home after their studies. However, those young people who stay and those who go back encourage cultural, social and economic development. They help maintain global dialog and productive exchange, which are both crucial for peaceful international cooperation.
Student exchanges weld stronger international relations and transcultural communication. Stitching the world together, they educate global citizens with manifold and multifaceted outlooks. And above all, studying abroad puts young people on the trek of adventure, makes them savvier and more mature individuals, and, more importantly, helps them meet many fantastic people.
Nadja Panchenko is a graduate student studying journalism and American studies who attended Ohio University last quarter and is a columnist for The Post. She is continuing her studies at Leipzig University. Email her at np577711@ohiou.edu.
