6 Amazing Quotes that Best Describe the Study Abroad Experience

Studying abroad and living in a foreign country is an impactful experience which left footprints on the world’s thinkers and intellects over history. The reoccurring theme of being foreign in a new land has repeated itself in literature, theaters, movies, speeches and more. Whether it’s a quote of a personal opinion or taken from a book, we’ve compiled the most relevant quotes for the ambitious international student studying abroad yearning to complete their MBA, Ph.D. Master’s degree, or Bachelor’s abroad. If you are far from home, these quotes will not only allow you to relate and hold your head saying “wow that’s exactly how it feels” but also inspire you on your journey to graduating from university abroad.

1. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." 
    - Lao Tzu 

Getting accepted a top universities in the United States, UK, Australia, Canada, China, Germany or France is a marathon - not a sprint. The curious and determined will need to walk slowly down the road to achieving their dreams. The process entails multiple steps, demanding attentiveness to technical and bureaucratic procedures. Those who have fought through the battle successfully know that persistence is the ultimate key, so take each step at a time and concur each challenge one by one.

2. "Wherever you go becomes a part of you somehow."
    - Anita Desai

Time spent in a new land leaves a mark on your overall life perspective. After the first culture shock, going back to who you once was is impossible. Meeting strangers from different worlds, sharing experiences and ideas especially in academic fields shapes the future you. The memories which you'll collect will go on with you forever. 

   

3. "When you travel remember that a foreign country is not designed to make you comfortable. It's designed to make its own people comfortable." 

     - Clifton Fadiman 

Language barriers and culture differences are a part of the  student abroad experience. If talking to locals is important for you, take the time to learn about the place you're living in. Follow the news, read books, take intensive language courses and learn the small cultural gestures to understand where you landed and why people act the way they do. If you get uncomfortable, just remember that growing only happens when you leave your comfort zone. 

4.   "The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." 

     - Eleanor Roosevelt 

What's life for if not to make every experience count. Living abroad makes life so much more vibrant and meaningful. Tasting new foods, traveling, visiting museums, going to art galleries, discovering yourself and the new place you're in. 

5. "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime."

     - Mark Twain

The vast exposure to a new society will tear down all the stigmas that you ever had. Instead of imagining how people may act in a certain place, you’ll actually be able to talk to people from different nationalities and find out for yourself. You’ll realize that even after seeing and witnessing things first hand it’s still only the tip of the iceberg and there are still missing pieces to the puzzle to fully understand the picture. 

6. "Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." 

    - Mark Twain

Yes, studying abroad is a once in a life time experience. Go out there, be yourself, enjoy your life and have no fear. If you're unsure about what you're doing, remember that others before you accomplished this dream and so can you.