Studying Abroad in High School

katliamom
Thu, 02 Jul 2015 16:52:45 +0000

I hope it works out, OP! In my opinion, it’s worth pursuing EVEN if it means your daughter has to repeat a year of a US high school. Overcoming obstacles, setting an ambitious goal (learning Japanese) and going for it – all of this will be a huge learning opportunity for your daughter. And yes, it will be respected by colleges which won’t give a hoot that her year in Japan may have meant delays in graduation, should that happen.

My daughter’s (large, very diverse and public) high school encouraged study abroad, and the poor overworked counselors really did try to make it possible, academics-wise. While researching options for my daughter, I met with several kids/parents who went through this experience. The stories are marvelous: one boy chose to go to Holland, because he was intrigued with northern European countries’ approach to sustainable living and human rights. He learned Dutch. He traveled. When he got back, as a senior, he applied to many selective schools even though his GPA and SATs weren’t quite on par. Yet he got into many of them because of his year in Holland. He ended up going to Georgetown and now works for the UN. Another young woman chose to go to China, where she started the town’s first all-female soccer team. She’s now an architect working in Shanghai. Not all the kids had a 100% happy experience - every kid goes through culture shock, bumps in the road with their host families, feelings of alienation, homesickness and language struggles. But that’s what makes studying abroad so enriching (and so respected by colleges.) You’re really testing yourself at an age when a lot of kids wouldn’t be ready for such challenges. No wonder the kids come back so mature - and so equipped to move on in life!