Spring Break
Tough transitions
After studying abroad, some students struggle to make themselves at home
by Shana D. Lebowitz and Holly Leighton
Features | 11/6/07
Posted online at 2:26 AM EST on 11/6/07
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Today, a smile creeps slowly over Schuster's face as she imagines herself standing atop the desert mountain, surrounded by early orange sunlight and barren cliffs, gazing breathlessly at the Dead Sea below.
"It was just amazing to be in the desert and hear the music and slowly see the sunrise as the concert was ending," she remembers.
"You're totally exhausted, but it's beautiful." She says this about the concert but might as well have been talking about her entire experience in Israel.
Schuster had hoped that, once back at Brandeis, she could demonstrate the same kind of independence and spontaneity that she enjoyed overseas.
"What I kept telling myself while [in Israel] is, 'I'm going to bring more of that mentality back here.' But you really can't," she says.
When talking about the transition from Tel Aviv to Waltham, Schuster's tone turns to disenchantment and matter-of-factness.
"Coming back to Brandeis is like a reality," she says.
Twice as many college students study abroad as they did eight years ago, according to a New York Times article published last Sunday.
For many Brandeis students, coming home from studying abroad means another difficult transition. Students find that their own values, perspectives and even personalities have changed so much over the course of six months-or even a year-spent in a foreign country.
Adi Shmuel '08 says she grew over a semester in Israel from a somewhat rigid student to a more relaxed and open-minded individual.
Shmuel didn't even realize how much she had changed until she started spending time with her friends at home again.
"I wanted to do a road trip, but my friends didn't want to. In Israel if I had wanted to do a road trip they would've said, 'Okay, when are we leaving?'" she says, speaking of the relaxed atmosphere that has rubbed off on her from her time away.
Shmuel even cites a specific word in Hebrew that embodies the specific aspects of the Israeli culture she sought to emulate: "Lizrom," she says, emphasizing with her hands. "It means to flow."
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