With the advent of social media and the rise of online businesses, the opportunities for people to find careers around the world have greatly increased. Foreign language classes are commonly available to children from elementary school age, and it is not uncommon for high school students to want to spend up to a year as a study abroad student. The choices facing today’s youth are staggeringly diverse and exciting.
Transitions Abroad is both a print magazine and an online portal providing detailed information on topics related to studying, living and working abroad. In their surveys of American exchange students, the following traits have been reported in significant percentages:
- Increased self-confidence
- greater maturity
- Lasting impact on worldview
- Greater interest in academic study.
- Influenced Later Educational Experiences
- Reinforced commitment to the study of foreign languages
- It helped foster a better understanding of cultural values and biases.
- Influenced by the desire to seek a greater diversity of friends.
- Continue to influence interactions with people from different cultures.
- Acquired skill sets that influenced career path.
- It kindled an interest in a career direction pursued after the experience.
With these kinds of life-changing properties, it’s no wonder so many young people want to spend time studying in a foreign country. However, such an experience can be very expensive and financial help can be hard to find. This presents a problem for many would-be adventurers.
Is it really into you?
However, before venturing too far down this path, the student must be sure that they are ready to fully commit to this process. A two to three week program abroad can cost up to $6,000 on its own, so the student must realize that this is serious business. It will take a lot of work and great sacrifice to make this opportunity possible.
It is also important for a student to decide what type of program will best serve their interests. While study programs are invaluable, a volunteer work program may be more appropriate. Or perhaps a church-oriented missions program would be appealing. Not everything has to have an academic basis. In fact, if you choose a non-academic type of program, you may be able to find alternative means of financing. Therefore, do extensive research on not only where you want to go, but also what you want to achieve. It could help you focus your efforts.
Step 1- Personal commitment or “digging in your own pockets”
I believe there are some preliminary steps to be taken early in this process that will reveal how serious the student is in making sacrifices for this adventure. If any of these suggestions put the student off, I would question the decision to go ahead.
Monitor spending habits
The first thing a student should do is look at their own expense clothing. If a weekly movie, music downloads, clothing purchases and other incidentals are a higher priority than the field trip abroad, saving thousands of dollars will be difficult. Therefore, the student will have to create a strict budget and reduce those expenses that prevent him from reaching the goal.
sell your stuff
Second, it would be wise for a student to evaluate what items they could sell to earn money for the experience. eBay and other online auction houses are a great way to unload unused or unneeded items and make a lot of money for them.
A garage sale, held at the right time of the year, can also be lucrative. You can even have your parents “donate” all the proceeds to your study abroad fund. Perhaps your friends and relatives would also be willing to give you their belongings to sell and keep the money.
change your things
Next, I know this may sound like an unusual suggestion, but in this age of email and cell phones, it could actually turn out to be very profitable. I think the student should start with a “red clip” project. I wrote a blog post about this at Top School Fundraisers. In essence, the student would choose a cheap item of their own and try to trade it with friends, family, co-workers, fellow students, or anyone willing to trade something of slightly higher value for it. Once the first trade is made, the student will immediately try to trade the second item for something of even greater value. Etc. Eventually, once the student has traded for a significantly valuable item, he or she can sell it for cash and put it toward the trip.
I once led a class of adults doing this experiment, and one woman ended up doing a trade-in for an old car that had the original chrome on it. She stripped the chrome off, polished it up, and sold it on eBay for $1,300! All it takes for this money-making opportunity is a cheap item to start with and the courage to ask people to trade. Who knows how far you could take this?
blog your way to richesAnother way to generate some income is to learn how to blog for money. There are a number of websites that will tell you how to “monetize” your blog. You may not get rich doing this, but the income of $50 to $60 per month is pretty easy to set up and doesn’t require a lot of hard work. Just a little creativity and attention should do the job. I would suggest looking at websites called Problogger or Shoemoney for ideas.
Get a job
Ok, this is boring: finding a job. Committing to a part-time job, if you haven’t done so before, can be an important step. It can meddle in your studies and in your personal life. But, if you want this experience abroad bad enough, you might be willing to work a few hours a week. If you earn $7 per hour and work 15 hours per week for 36 weeks (an average school year), you could earn $3,780.
In the summer, you could even earn more. If you plan well in advance, this way you could get a part of the total bill. You won’t do anything glamorous for $7 an hour, but remember your goal. Of course, you cannot spend any of this income. Put it in ol’s savings account.
