Germany. Spain. Kenya. Australia. The SMU study abroad program offers a vast number of programs traveling to countries all around the world.

SMU has given students an opportunity to further their education by allowing them to travel overseas to immerse themselves in the culture, shadow a global company or to provide a first-hand experience on giving back.

The study abroad programs can be categorized into three sections: research, internships and service and volunteer trips.

The research and internship programs allow students to learn more about their major while simultaneously developing connections in other countries. They combine academics and work while showing students the countries’ way of life.

Service and volunteer trips allow students to integrate community service to increase their awareness about other countries while assimilating to the culture.

What student wouldn’t want to travel and experience what life is on the other side of the world?

As an expatriate who has lived both in and outside of the states, I truly encourage other students to apply and explore places they have never been to or maybe even heard of.

When asking other students about studying abroad, their biggest concern has always been that they don’t have time to fit it within four years so they are able to graduate on time or that they would not know where to go.

Conveniently enough, the SMU study abroad program provides trips over breaks.

For example, students are able to study in London or do service work in Bali. Alternative breaks also provides direct service opportunities throughout the school year during academic breaks and weekends.

It may seem like a hassle to go through tedious amounts of paper work, class scheduling and packing to travel when you’re right on campus, but the memories and cultural experiences gained while you’re abroad will overly compensate for that.

College only lasts four years; balancing schoolwork, friends and relationships and work is already challenging enough while living in Dallas, so how should I expect to have my s***t together in a different country?

The answer is you may or may not.

The point of studying or doing service abroad is to immerse yourself in the culture and learning as you go.

When you disconnect yourself from your college, your home and pretty much everything you’ve grown comfortable with, you’ll get culture shock.

It’ll be nerve-wracking. It’ll make you apprehensive at times, but you’ll love it.

Given a semester abroad, you’ll find yourself picking up colloquial language from a country in which you didn’t even know what the national language was. You’ll try exotic cuisines and decipher for yourself how good different really tastes. You’ll fall in love with the scenery and the people, not even realizing you’ve started to assimilate into their culture seamlessly.

There’s a time and place in your life for everything. The time to study and get serious about your life goals is approaching. The time to start thinking about if you want a family, where you want to settle down and what lifestyle you want to live is too.

But if you become so focused on the future, you’ll miss out on having amazing and eye-opening experiences that you may never come across again.

The fact is that SMU is a great school that provides their students countless opportunities to try new things. Their study abroad program has done a commendable job for giving students the opportunity to learn all over the world.

Down the road in life, if you see a Instagram photo of the Sydney Opera House or a Madrid sunset, you would want to smile and recollect the time you went there or saw such a beautiful sight, rather than wishing you signed up for that study abroad program in college.

Go out and see the world– before you have to step over the seal.