More and more college students prefer to go to other countries to study for one semester to experience a different culture and life. Students who want to study abroad are willing to explore a new culture, a new country and a new way of life. The number of students participating in exchange programs at Hood is increasing.
At Hood, there is only one exchange program during the summer time which is called Bahrom International Program (BIP). Most students go to study abroad during their sophomore year or junior year. Every year, Hood sends four to nine students to Seoul Women’s University to study there for one month. Likewise, Seoul Women’s University sends three students to Hood every year, and their students study at Hood for a whole year.
Kate Emory, the director of Study Abroad Programs and International Student Coordinator said: “It’s kind of a reciprocal agreement so that each university benefits from having diverse students come to their university. Those students bring back experiences to their home university and share it with other students.”
Studying and living in a totally different country is a very tough mission for many people. Eating habits are the biggest challenge for people who live in a new country.
Mikhailo Chuknlib, a Hood graduate, who went to Korea in the summer of 2013, said, “Before I went to Korea, I was really worried about how I could survive without American food.”
Chuknlib was not familiar with chopsticks and Korean spicy food before, but now he can “handle any kind of” chopsticks; in addition, he said he is a big fan of Kim-chi as well.
Emory said many American students talked about eating habits to her after they came back to America from other countries. “They get over to the host country, and they missed the American food. But then they come back to America, and they just really missed their host countries.”
Sooyeon Choi, a 2014 Korean exchange student, said, “I expected lots of differences between America and Korea before I came here; in reality, I really didn’t see much different things after I came here.”
Choi was living by herself in Seoul before, so she can take care of herself very well and she is independent. She said she has become more independent now and she has learned how to deal with unexpected things by herself. And she said “I know how to plan a trip by myself now. If I still live in Korea, I can’t be able to plan a trip by myself.”
Language is another big difficulty for exchange students.
Chuknlib said, “It was hard to navigate without Korean speakers accompanying me, but now I can pick up some of the Korean language and learn how to read Korean.”
Minha Kim, a 2014 Korean exchange student, said, “I was excited to study in a full English environment. But it’s really hard to understand what the professor does and catch up with the professor’s rate of speech. ”
In order to ease exchange students pressure of speaking in a new environment, Hood always gives three to four orientations to enhance their knowledge about the country they are going to. During the orientations, the students who came back from the program share lots of experiences they had in Korea and tell future exchange students how to communicate with Korean.
Most students who finished the exchange program say that although they had a hard time adjusting to the cultural differences, they think it was worth the experience studying in a different country.
Jisun Ann, a 2013 exchange student from Korea, said, “I developed better English ability and creative thinking after I stayed in America for one year.” Ann said she got to know the differences between learning in Korea and learning in America. She said most Korean students do not ask questions during the class, but students in America are more willing to ask. Ann added, “I really like people’s learning attitude in America. We Korean students just study for a good GPA.”
Chuknlib said, “If you get the chance to study abroad, I would strongly recommend that people do so. It’s a great experience and for many people, they can only do this sort of thing while they’re young. You probably will never get an opportunity like this after college."
Chuknlib added, “It exposes you to another culture which will make you a more open-minded person in the long run.”
The upcoming summer exchange program to Korea this year will send three students. Emory said Hood College is still reaching out with other universities to see if there are more chances to expand the exchange programs for students in the future.