Students With Disabilities - Returning Home

The experience of moving back home after studying abroad

Having spent a rewarding and exciting period studying abroad, the only thing left to do is return home. Although you may be looking forward to seeing friends and family, it can also be a challenge to return home having met so many new and interesting people and experienced a new country and culture.

To ensure that you settle back home and make the most of the contacts and friends that you have gained throughout your study abroad period, the returning home checklist below suggests some ideas for disabled students about to return home:

• Be prepared for culture shock. Some people feel more culture shock when returning home than they did when arriving in a new country. People returning to the US often feel that the pace is much faster and less community-oriented.
• Expect to feel a new sense of independence, self-esteem, and confidence.
• Share your experiences with others once you return (write articles, speak at conferences, present slideshows for your funders, serve as a peer and role model for others).
• Maintain contact with the people you met abroad.
• Based on your experience, consider advocating for human/disability rights locally and internationally.
• Now that you have acquired international living and/or language skills, consider the international facet of your career intentions.
• Promote your skills and knowledge in job hunting.
• Start planning your next overseas experience.

This guide was developed in association with Mobility International USA.