San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec




San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913

The Daily Aztec

Students experience mixed feelings post study abroad

Courtesy of Renee Payne

By Sarah Grieco, Managing Editor

After seven months traveling in Asia, psychology senior Renee Payne was ready to go home. Beginning in January of this year, Payne studied abroad in Singapore — more than 8,000 miles away from California. She was the only person from San Diego State to enter this particular program early this year and despite a rough start, her time abroad proved to be invaluable.

She became friends with students from other countries and encountered countless adventures in a short period of time. She stroked tigers in Thailand, hiked a volcano in Bali and trekked through ancient ruins in Cambodia. Needless to say, it was an experience of a lifetime.

Immediately following her time at Nanyang Technological University, the school she attended in Singapore, she moved to Hong Kong to live with her grandparents for two months, making this the longest time Payne had ever been away from home.

She was certainly ready to get on the 14-hour flight back to California to see her friends and family after more than 200 days of Asian immersion.

But when Payne returned home, she was surprised. The time that used to move quickly when she was traveling began to slow down. She became bored. After only a few days, her big suburban house made her feel sad, and she began longing to relive her experience in Singapore.

“I wanted to go back,” she said.

Home life seemed quiet compared to the city life of Hong Kong, where constant chatter always filled the voids in the background.

Payne also expected things to be extremely different when she returned home, but that wasn’t the case.

“It was all exactly how I left it,” she said.

Being at home was such a contrast from her time abroad, and with nothing but free time until she started school, Payne simply reminisced about what she had just experienced.

“I felt really nostalgic all the time,” she said. “I just did all this stuff, now what? … What do I do now?”

Payne passed the time by going through her pictures and staying in touch with her friends abroad through Skype and Facebook.

This experience is what many have come to know as reverse culture shock, and Payne is not the only student who has had mixed emotions upon returning from studying abroad. Reverse culture shock is when students return home from another country and have trouble adjusting to their former lives. It has become a common occurrence and can happen to students anywhere.

International Coordinator for the College of Health & Human Services Suzanne Baker recently studied the phenomenon of reverse culture shock for her graduate thesis. She wanted to find out what students experience when they come back from studying abroad and why students partake in reentry programming.

While writing her thesis, Baker discovered students were not prepared for the reverse culture shock.

“When you come back you don’t really expect change,” Baker said.

Unlike SDSU, some universities have mandated programming for students when returning from studying abroad or lecture series to guide reacclimatization.

Rachel Shapiro and Tom Murphy spent the beginning of the year studying in Spain. Courtesy of Rachel Shapiro

However, in San Diego every year there is a program titled “Lessons From Abroad.” Here, students can attend workshops and meet others who studied abroad so they do not feel alone in their experiences. The program will be held next year on Feb. 26 at UC San Diego.

“It’s something that I think everyone could benefit from when you come back because there are feelings you don’t know how to process,” Baker said.

However, not all students feel the distressing effects of reverse culture shock.

Rachel Shapiro, a journalism senior, has been abroad twice. She interned in London for two months last year and studied abroad in Barcelona, Spain earlier this year. The two trips were very different from each other, but both experiences left a lasting effect on Shapiro, including a desire to travel more. The acclimation was a little tricky for her, but ultimately she adjusted back to life in San Diego.

Her boyfriend, Tom Murphy, experienced something a little different. He joined Shapiro in Spain during the spring and had an amazing time.

“It felt like how life’s supposed to be,” he said.

He was happy to return home to his family, but, similar to Payne, his transition back to SDSU was a difficult one.

“I only focus(ed) on the adjustment I would make abroad, but you have to make one when you come back too,” Murphy said.

Murphy also misses the education he received in Spain.

“I think there is a general insensitivity with people here,” he said. “You can’t really relate to teachers as well and in Spain there’s a much more personal relationship.”

Both Murphy and Shapiro said they are happy with their lives here, but they miss the family-focused lifestyle in Spain.

Payne also misses her friends from NTU, but she said life has to go on.

“When you actually go and see a little part of the world … coming back and digesting it is tough, but it’s so valuable,” she said.

All those interviewed expressed a desire to study abroad again and would recommend the experience to other students, but Murphy did so with caution.

“Be aware of the adjustment you’re going to have to make when you come home,” he said. “Remember that when you come back it’s going to be the same old thing — I wasn’t really expecting to come back and be disappointed with how things were.”

Those who wish to learn more about reentry programs for reverse culture shock can visit lessons fromabroad.org.

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San Diego State University’s Independent Student Newspaper Since 1913
Students experience mixed feelings post study abroad