ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the challenges that even the most modest international experience may pose for students and discuss ways to accommodate and/or prevent the issues. It describes what common reactions to the new cultures are and experiences encountered during study abroad, what students can expect, how to help students deal with them, and how to manage the additional strain of students who are struggling to adapt to their international experience. Another common issue for course-based study abroad students is the need for self-reliance. An important part of the intercultural learning takes place after the study abroad experience when students see their own country or city through a new perspective. Most students say that their experience studying abroad was “life-changing,” and how that eventually manifests itself in their life may take them awhile to figure out. For some students International travel can push the boundaries of their cultural, religious, or political comfort zone.
