When I spent one and a half years in Malaysia as part of a study-abroad program, I went to fulfill part of the requirements for my undergraduate degree. But I also ended up getting an education in the school of life. Living and studying in the Southeast Asian nation of about 30 million people, before ultimately transferring back to the United States to continue my education, profoundly changed my life forever because being away from family and friends, and getting to know people from all walks of life, gave me the opportunity to look into the proverbial mirror and to see myself for who I really was. This experience, particularly as concerns what I learned about myself while studying abroad and the changes I subsequently made, has helped to put me on the path towards more positive growth through further studies that will help me professionally and personally.
What Studying Abroad Taught Me
Looking back, I can clearly see that I did not appreciate everything I had been blessed with as a result of being raised in the United States. I had grown disillusioned with being in the land of the free and the home of the brave, and going to Malaysia, if but for a little while, provided me with the opportunity to get away from it all.
Before going to Malaysia, I was very much an inward-looking person and did not appreciate the value of family as much as I should have. Frankly, I took my family, and even many of my friends, for granted. In addition, I arrived in Malaysia as a person who was suffering from depression and who has burdened with feelings of loneliness, which adversely impacted my personality, giving it a sharper, more anti-social edge.
Changes
Fortunately, I not only got to recognize my own shortcomings as a human being, but also had the chance to experience changereal transformational change that has altered the way I see myself, other people and the world as a whole.
Living in Malaysia and interacting with people from all walks of life over the one and a half years I was there helped me to appreciate everything I had taken for granted in the United States. I truly started to see that being a citizen of the United States provided me with privileges and opportunities that many of my peers in Malaysia did not have.
Being away from my support network also gave me the chance to grasp for the first time just how important my family and friends were to me. I finally understood the concept that no one is an island unto himself, and I endeavored to be a better son, sibling and friend going forward.
As I lived with and studied with a motley crew of international and domestic students in Malaysia, the void inside was filled because I found that I was able to open up to people in this new place. I started to look at the world as a global village where we have to look out for each other. And the feelings of depression, which I feel may have been a function of bottling up my feelings, never haunted me again.
Conclusion
What I experienced while studying in Malaysia is fundamental change. Quite simply, I returned to the United States a much different personal than I had left. The way I relate to other people and the world at large has changed, largely because I was able to do a personal inventory of myself and to see the things in my life that needed to change. As I continue on this personal journey, I recognize that education will play a primary role in further helping me to develop professionally and personally. And I am anxious to continue this journey.
