The Benefits of Studying Abroad

By: Lu Yiming

We all know it can be frustrating – and sometimes, painful to study in a foreign country, with its different language and culture. But while studying overseas has its drawbacks, the difficulties are far outweighed by the advantages.

26 year-old XieJing, hails from China and loves studying in Europe. As an international student with experiences of living in Sweden and now France (she is part of a student exchange program), she shares her opinion why she chose to study abroad. 

After having worked for a biotechnology firm in China for almost four years, Xie Jing felt a ‘little limited’ by her bachelor’s degree. It was then that she decided to ‘take a step up’ and enroll in a master’s program. Her decision to undertake a degree abroad rather than from her home country China was a conscious step towards gaining international exposure and studying in the homeland of her childhood role model Carl Linnaeus, the renowned Swedish botanist. 

While at Sweden, where she spent her first year of the program, Xie Jing was impressed by the affability of the Swedish people. “They were very friendly and accepting towards foreigners,” she says, adding that this helped her adjust easily in the new country. She utilized the fika (Swedish for ‘coffee time’) to interact with the faculty and bond with her classmates in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. “Social life at Uppsala University has been absolutely fantastic. I had the opportunity to integrate with students from different parts of the world. The enthusiastic Swedish celebration of foreign festivals such as the Chinese New Year has been one of the most memorable for me,” she says. However, what impressed her most was the dynamic classroom atmosphere, where students were encouraged to think independently and ask questions. It was something new for her and she refreshingly welcomed it. “Great ideas are encouraged to sparkle here. The inter-disciplinary approach has extended my knowledge in focus areas,” she says. 

Xie Jing is now in France, preparing to do her thesis from UniversitéCatholique De L'Ouest in Angers, as part of the student exchange program in the second year of her Master’s degree. She is also taking a course in French from Centre International D'ÉtudesFrançaises (CIDEF) to help her have a smooth stay in the country. Although she finds the education systems of Sweden and France vastly different, there are things she hugely admires about the both of them. While Sweden revealed to her the vast scope of toxicology, she was amazed by France’s advanced knowledge in biomarkers. Thus, being exposed to the European world’s superior scientific awareness, she feels confident that the decision to do her master’s abroad has been a right one and hopes to learn much from the whole experience. “I look forward to promoted scientific views. It is a great learning experience for me as I’ve had a chance to work with people from various disciplines and cultural backgrounds and countries,” she says.