How Studying Abroad Changed My Life - 03/04/19

When I started at UofT as a Rhodes Scholar in 2016, I knew right away that I wanted to study abroad in my first year. I was also worried that it would be a challenge to graduate on time in an engineering major if I pursued study abroad, so I took a very strategic approach: an international summer internship. It worked out seamlessly, enjoying a nine-week computer engineering internship at the University of Oxford. That summer also left me with an intense travel bug. I became determined to find a semester-long study abroad opportunity that could fit my degree plan, and that could immerse me in a culture different from others I had experienced before. I spent the spring 2018 semester studying at American University of Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates. With help from my department and UofT's Education Abroad Office, I coordinated my course plan to make all the pieces fit together.

As an engineering student and future engineer, I believe gaining a global perspective is imperative. My goal as an engineer is to help solve the world’s problems and studying abroad has helped me view problems through a different lens. Studying abroad has taught me how to connect and form relationships with people that are different from myself. It has allowed me to see the similarities and differences among cultures and more particularly, appreciate the differences. My international experiences have also helped me grow in ways that apply to aspects of my life beyond academics. At eighteen, I had to figure out how to travel from country to country and problem solve on my own, forcing me to be more outgoing and self-reliant. Through studying abroad I grew self-confidence and fine-tuned skills that I can apply to any situation and in any job, such as interpersonal skills, diligence, and persistence.

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