Studying abroad or traveling is the best decision a person can make when it comes to self discovery.
Studying abroad provides a time for young, nascent students to learn about themselves while discovering that they do, in fact, have something to offer this beautiful and expansive world. It’s also evidently a time when students discover new drugs and drink more than usual says a new study from On Call International, a firm that provides risk management to Americans traveling abroad.
The company surveyed 1,000 students who were currently or have studied abroad in the past to determine just how much partying was truly happening in these so called foreign countries. More than half of the students who said they drink, responded that they drank more while studying abroad. And even more horrific, 11 percent claimed that they were more likely to “black out” while drinking in a foreign country. We’re not scientists but correlation isn’t causation. If someone is blacking out when they’re drinking, location isn’t going to be factor. Whether they’re in Barcelona or Pi Psi beer Olympics, they’re going to black out — that’s a drinking habit they’ve developed.
But the debaucherous activities of study abroad students doesn’t stop there. Around 29 percent of the students said they did drugs while abroad with 11 percent saying they tried drugs for the first time. The study fails to define what exactly is a “drug.” Trying acid in a foreign country and smoking your first doobie are two entirely different things. And if your’e in Amsterdam contemplating whether or not you should slam a few mushrooms for the first time, make sure you’re with a good group of friends and don’t begin visualizing the end of your life. We’ve seen it happen.
There is a silver lining in all of this. A study out of University of Michigan in 2014 found that 39 percent of students had used drugs in the last 12 months. So there you have it, drugs are everywhere blah blah blah. Sadly, you should be more concerned about the discrimination at University of Michigan than you should be about drugs infringing on our college education.
Studying abroad is the best decision a person can make when it comes to self discovery. Traveling the world and understanding the multiple cultures and life perspectives that exist in this crazy world will ultimately give a person insight into who they are and who they want to be. Being on your own puts the ball in your hands and forces you to make decisions that we otherwise leave up to our peers and surroundings. Make a bad decision, try something you never would and challenge your comfort zone because at the end of the day, pushing your limits will help you find what you love best about yourself and how you most want to contribute to this world.
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