I recently came across an article on GoOverseas.com titled Why You Should Date A Girl Who Studied Abroad.
While the article is specifically written for men, I think a lot of her points can be used to describe a wide variety of topics. These are the reasons why I not only tend to be interested in guys who either aren’t from America or spent a significant amount of time abroad, but also why I tend to search out friendships with those people as well.
For example, when people ask me why I chose to volunteer as an Exchange Student Orientation Leader at GW, the main reason was to meet people from all over the world. I spent a large amount of time with my new international friends senior year, because I found them interesting and exciting and I appreciated learning about their different world views.
Similarly, one of my favorite aspects of my internship with the Alliance for Global Education was calling and emailing all of the applicants for their Beijing and Xi’an programs. I loved talking to these students and sharing my experiences and I even became friends and still keep in touch with some of them. I think that young people who choose to study abroad in non-traditional locations like China are very interesting and have a lot of the qualities described in the article above. One of the main reasons why I want to pursue a career in international education is to work with these types of students, and help them obtain their goals and explore the world.
As a foreign English teacher in China, I try to encourage these characteristics in my Chinese students as well. For me, my job is less about teaching them English are more about encouraging students to use an international perspective and help them learn about the world outside China- a world that a lot of them may never see. Not only do I want to improve my students’ worldview, I also want to improve their confidence; confidence in speaking English as well as confidence in their own creativity and self-expression.
Finally, I think the article above also serves as a good example for why people who study or live abroad make good employees. Intelligence, confidence, independence and a broad worldview are all things that potential employers (and apparently potential boyfriends) look for. Studying or living abroad, especially somewhere non-traditional, makes you interesting. If you can overcome challenges abroad, you can definitely overcome tough deadlines in an office. You backpacked around Asia on your own? You can definitely handle those spreadsheets. You gave a presentation in front of the class in a different language? You’ll be fine presenting at that important meeting. Finally, living internationally and having a broad worldview can help you think outside the box or help you relate to fellow employees or business partners with differing opinions.
There you go: 5 Reasons Why You Should Date/Befriend/Hire me someone who has lived or studied abroad!
