Four years ago, when Rishab went to the United States of America (USA) to pursue his dream of studying abroad, for most of his friends and kin, he was on an academic stint.

A foreign university degree is always considered to be a feather in the cap and with that ideology, his proud parents saw him off at Bangalore airport in 2009.

Last year when, Rishab came back after a successful degree from the esteemed Michigan University most saw him from an onlooker’s perspective. A much more ‘polished’ Rishab was back home with a precious degree, oodles of experience and a high-paying job! His dream was fulfilled.

But the thing that many failed to see was the new outlook of life Rishab carried back home. In his pursuit of making a better life and achieving a dream career, Rishab had lived a life in the foreign land. A life of an outsider, a life of a guest! A life where he was embraced on some occasions and taken aback on many.

Like Rishab, many who go abroad to garner a foreign degree come back home with far more than just the education experience. Their bags are not just full of foreign clothes and a lucrative degree but a bag full of memories.

Let’s run through the mind of Rishab and many like him, who in their pursuit of a dream abroad, invariably, traverse an inner journey. A journey of the unknown which leaves one enlightened and wanting for more after it ends.

Larger than life

In India, the facets of life offered are that of the extremes. The diversity is not just cultural but also infrastructural! Hence, the tall buildings, the exuberant malls fail to intimidate us as the life of a miniaturist exists in parallel. But that is not the case abroad. The large structures, the wide roads, the huge university campus are enough to intimidate and excite a student on his dream journey.

Cultural shock

Life abroad, especially in countries like US and UK, has so much to offer that every day; a new enlightening awaits an individual. Be it the food, the culturally diverse sect of people or the ‘open’ mentality- for an Indian student, everything is new.

Home sickness

Many who have spent a considerable period of life abroad, say that the value of home and family is realised more once one steps out of the boundaries of the house. When you are in an altogether foreign land, making adjustments with the new environment, people and food habits, the ‘home sickness’ is unavoidable. After a daylong stay at the college amidst books, when a student returns to his room, the feeling of being away from home seeps in the most.

Receiving end of curiosity

When you are in a foreign land, you are a foreigner to the natives. Most students studying abroad do go through the phase, where they spend their time addressing the curiousness of their fellow students. Their curiosity often breaks the ice and thus helps make new friends.

Act of parting

While you spend years in a university abroad, it is natural for the place to become your home. Your roomie, the cafeteria nanny, the hostel peon- all turn out to be part of your extended family. Unfortunately, for most of us, we have to part ways with these new found loved ones. When one returns back home from a foreign academic experience, these relationships are left on the other side of the shore.

To sum it up, while one is on a dream journey of a better life abroad, he/ she has travelled a journey into a world outside which leads to an anagnorisis of a life beyond the periphery of the academic life. We suggest, given an opportunity, live your dream abroad to understand life, the larger than life way! Avanse will be your guide during this phase.