How Study Abroad Pushes You Out of Your Comfort Zone
In this short solo episode, I share some thoughts about my study abroad experience in Scotland. It pushed me and my students out of our comfort zone, but that was a very good thing.
I taught one of the first Edinburgh hub classes for Texas State University based at Queen Margaret University. Our hub programs are short-term study abroad experiences where students earn credit while spending 3-weeks living and learning overseas.
Takeaways
• Students connected with each other while developing deeper connections with themselves
• Examples of Transformative Learning Theory
• Students learned about course content and the local community
• Freedom to explore. Students visited Edinburgh (6 minutes by train) and coastal villages like North Berwick
• New experiences built confidence and positive self-esteem
Homework:
Choose one way to step into something new this week.
What surprised you the last time you tried something new?
How did you grow from the experience?
Want to hear the real story? You can listen to the podcast interviews featuring my students here. They are fantastic!
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00:00 - Looking ahead and reflecting
00:40 - First Hub Class in Edinburgh
01:26 - Witnessing Transformative Learning Theory
02:05 - Student Growth Beyond the Classroom
03:36 - How can you step Into something new?
Welcome to Stories of Change and Creativity. I'm Judy Oskam and, as I look forward to starting the new semester Texas State University, I can't help but look back at what a fantastic summer experience I had and how a study abroad experience changed my life but also the lives of my students. Leading a study abroad group to Edinburgh, Scotland. It really did show that travel can break routines and enhance confidence and build self-esteem. I was honored to run one of the first hub classes at Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, Scotland. The class was an intro to public relations foundations class, a basic class, so we had a mix of majors. There were only nine students in the class, but the students were fantastic and I saw them grow and change every day.
Judy Oskam:
The first day everyone arrived shy, getting to know each other, having to find the university, getting there from the airport, but then they started to connect. And the first day of class we got together and introduced everyone. We talked about the class. We got together and introduced everyone. We talked about the class. I sent them out right away to do a little campus project with working in groups of three. Again, there were only nine students in the class. It was small. Three classes went to the Edinburgh Hub program and with a total of about 30 students total and three faculty members. With a total of about 30 students total and three faculty members. But it was amazing to see how the students changed and grew and it really made me kind of do a little more research and looked up sociologist Jack Mezirow's transformative learning theory, because I got to see it firsthand, I got to experience it in real time.
Judy Oskam:
The students came to class, they connected with each other, with the course content, but more importantly, they connected with themselves and they got out in the world, in an international venue, if you will. Yes, English was the primary language, but they got out. They talked to business leaders, they interviewed shopkeepers, they interviewed restaurant owners about public relations, about their brand. One team, one student's group the client that they talked to even wanted them to do some social media work for them. So I was super proud of these students and they went out and had a lot of fun as well. But the thing is the class met between 9 and 12 in the morning. Then the students had the freedom to go out and work on their projects, work on their homework and explore. They could jump on the train and go six minutes and be in the center of Edinburgh, or they could jump on the train and go the other direction and in less than 20 minutes be at North Berwick and be at the coast, a quaint village town. So the students really had the opportunity to get on a bus or a train and explore the countryside of Scotland and really get to connect with the people.
Judy Oskam:
So growth happens when it's outside of your comfort zone. I saw it, I saw it in myself, I experienced it and we talked about it as a class. The students shared with me, some of them even let me interview them for my podcast. You can listen to those episodes as well. But we shared the last day of class. There were tears, we were crying. Nobody really wanted to leave because we really did have a great experience and I think everyone realized how much we all grew and changed.
Judy Oskam:
So if there's an action step that I would give to our listeners I would think about, you don't need to go to Scotland, you don't need to travel far and wide. You need to choose one way to step into something new this week, big or small, what can you do in your own world, your own community that would help you grow and learn and I would ask what surprised you the last time you tried something new? How did you grow from the experience? Did you enjoy it? Did you learn?
Judy Oskam:
Well, have fun with this and again, I look forward to connecting with you later on with more content and more solo episodes and more information about change and creativity. Remember, everyone has a story to share and, if you do reach out to me at judyoscomcom, Thanks for listening.