Returning to CC
Welcome back to CC from your off-campus study experience(s)!
Sometimes returning "home" is as surprising and disorienting as going away. Whether it is a question of reverse culture shock, not feeling at home in your home, or an overpowering urge to find ways to explore the world once again, these are normal reactions to study away, and we have some resources that can help you as you navigate the new "home" you find yourself in.
We hope the resources below are helpful.
RESOURCES FOR RETURNEES
Reverse culture shock can be a common reaction to arriving back home for students on extended study away experiences. Sometimes it is mild a feeling that on one understands the experience you had, other times you may be overwhelmed by feelings that letting your study away experience fade to the past will also cause you to lose a part of who you now are. It can be a very real factor in how you return to "normal" back home. Possible symptoms of RCS include:
- Feelings of restlessness, boredom, depression, or confusion
- A tendency to isolate yourself from the friends or family you have returned to, wanting to be alone
- An overwhelming "reverse homesickness", missing the people, places, or lifestyle from your study away experience.
- Trouble aligning your post-experience goals and values with the plans you had made for your future before going abroad
- Feelings of negativity or intolerance towards your home culture
These helpful links can help you understand and deal with the very real impact of reverse culture shock, a feeling of unease about returning home which often awaits students on semester or longer study away programming.
GRADUATE SCHOOL ABROAD
- Going Abroad After Graduation: Working, Teaching, and Graduate School Abroad: Slides/Links from Nov 2022 Info Session w/ Career Center -
- Archived Zoom info session on Grad School Abroad (with Denise Cope, Affordable Degrees Abroad)
- The Gates Cambridge Trust Scholarship - graduate degree at Cambridge University
- Marshall Scholarship - graduate study in the U.K.
- George J. Mitchell Scholarship - graduate study in Ireland
- Rhodes Scholarship - graduate study at Oxford University
- Boren Fellowship - support for overseas graduate study involving less commonly taught languages
CAREER RESOURCES
- Organizations to look into working with (internships and fellowships)
- How to Market Your Experience From Off-Campus Study
- Working in International Education
- International Career Resources
- Humanity in Action Fellowship - international summer fellowship in human rights
- The Henry Luce Foundation Scholarship - professional placement in Asia
RETURNING ABROAD TO RESEARCH
- Fulbright Program for U.S. Students - independent research or English teaching abroad
- Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - yearlong research assistant
OTHER OPPORTUNITIES
- Steps To Teaching or Volunteering Abroad
- Thomas J. Watson Scholarship - independent travel around the world for one year
A full list of internal and external grants for upperclassmen and recent graduates (and support for your application process!) can be found at this CC webpage.
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