Tons and thousands of students visit different countries to study further and gain an internationally recognized degree. While this thought seems extremely exciting, together comes some practical and real-life hardships, which students experience only when they arrive at their dream study destinations. Thus, it is always better to be prepared for and informed about the difficulties that they may face. There are a number of overseas consultancies in Ahmedabad that provide you guidance on how to cope with the probable obstacles you may come in contact with during your studies. However, moving to a new place, leaving your parents and home country, managing all tasks by yourself alongside your studies is not a child's play. Different languages, social customs, food habits, educational systems, and lifestyles can feel stressful at first. That's when the term 'Cultural Shock' comes into picture. Cultural shock is the temporary part of every international student's life, which can smoothly be converted into opportunities with a slight change in routine and perspective. In this blog, we explore what culture shock is, its different stages, and practical strategies that can help international students adapt successfully to life in a new country.
What Cultural Shock Actually Means?
Cultural shock generally refers to the situation where a student feels confused, anxious, uncertain or disoriented when a new culture completely different from his own is uncovered. This happens due to the replacement of familiar social cues, traditions, and routines with the alien ones.
Cultural shock may come to different people in different forms such as:
• Not being able to understand local slangs, accents or languages
• Feeling homesick, missing family, friends, and home traditions
• Adjusting to novel teaching methodology
• Acclimatizing to new food and eating etiquettes/habits
• Problem in comprehending native social code of conduct
• Difficulty in managing overall responsibilities of studies and daily tasks all alone
Remember that this is not a weakness, but a short-term psychological response to significant changes in your routine life.
Four Major Stages of Cultural Shock
In common nature, cultural shock comes in 4 particular stages. They are:
• The Golden Period Phase: This is the initial stage when the student has just stepped into a new country and is full of excitement to initiate his/her study abroad journey. Everything feels very interesting, as the student stays curious to explore new cities, new people, and new culture by looking at the positive aspect of the student life and experiences in a foreign nation.
• The Annoyance Phase: The second and the most critical part of cultural shock is this stage. Here, the student starts facing the harsh realities of staying apart from family and leading a new life individually as a student in a different location. Students may encounter language constraints, cultural misconception, academic workload, and bittersweet emotional longing to return to their loved ones. The emotions indulged in this phase include the feeling of isolation, distress, aggravation, irritability, or self-distrust.
• The Adjustment Phase: Over a period of time, students start accommodating themselves to their surroundings, people, customs and daily routine. They also build friendships, while understanding this stage to be part of their life as an international student. At this moment, communicating becomes hassle-free, faith in self begins to increase, handling daily chores becomes effortless, and a sense of independence grows. Although the obstacles still persist, managing them feels uncomplicated.
• The Refinement Phase: Finally, in this stage, students have entirely absorbed the new environment and are able to communicate with people easily, participate in cultural programs, and travel to various other scenic landscapes fearlessly. Students at this level realize the significance of the efforts their parents and they have put in, while also knowing that they have grown both personally and professionally through their distinct international experiences.
Most Common Hurdles Faced by Every International Student
It is essential for you to know about a few problems that you are bound to face as an international student. The issues are:
• Language Differences: Although students are required to take a language proficiency exam to meet university and visa requirements, they still struggle to involve themselves in doing routine conversations, participating in classroom discussions, making acquaintances, and performing administrative tasks because of local slangs, accents and the speed of native speakers while talking.
• Homesickness: This emotion is usual to be felt by many students as they miss their traditional festival celebrations, home-cooked meals and the emotional support they used to receive in their home country.
• Educational Variance: The pattern of education differs from one country to another. Thus, a student is then needed to adjust to the individual learning style, group projects, assignments focusing on critical thinking abilities, regular evaluation of tasks assigned, and also the different method of grading.
• Social Indulgence: Not everyone is an extrovert by nature. Therefore, building new companionship and trying to blend into the social group can certainly take time, which requires a high patience level.
• Management of Finances: As students who study abroad do not wish to place more burden on their parents for managing their daily utilities, they engage themselves in part-time jobs. So, it may really feel exhausting to administer the expenditure on rent, transportation, groceries, and personal expenses alone.
Simple Ways to Adjust Easily
Instill the below-mentioned habits in your everyday life to assist yourself in adjusting easily.
• Embark on a New Academic Journey with an Open Mindset: Avoid complaining and comparing situations. Instead, try to accept and understand why things are different.
• Create a Support Network: Try integrating with the university's clubs and societies, attend orientation events, immerse yourself in campus activities, talk to classmates and expand your network locally. This will boost your confidence and encourage you to focus on your future goals.
• Enhance your Communication Skills: Communication plays a very vital role everywhere. Take part in classroom debates and discussions, join language exchange programs, watch local T.V programs or listen to podcasts of local speakers, and converse regularly with natives.
• Keep in Touch With your Family Members: Despite running a busy schedule between managing studies and doing part-time work, always take out at least 5-10 minutes from your day and talk to your parents, siblings or friends through video calls or messages. Doing this can give you comfort of being among your people and surroundings.
• Implement a Healthy Routine: Students who stay away from their family often end up giving up on their healthy routine. Make sure that you eat a balanced diet, exercise at regular intervals, take adequate sleep, prepare a structured study plan, and perform social activities as per your availability and convenience. Being physically and mentally fit will let you adjust to the new destination in less time.
• Explore Local Cultures and Places: In order to integrate yourself into the foreign land, you can visit local museums and cultural spots, attend local festivals, try eating the staple/traditional food, learn about local customs and trip to different natural places within that nation.
• Look Out for Help When Needed: Students can take the help of the university's student support council if they feel stuck at any point. There are universities that provide assistance through educational support, career counseling, or help with language learning. Never restrict yourself from taking the benefits designed especially for newcomers.
Strategies to Convert Challenges into Personal Growth
While cultural shock is a natural impulsive feeling which makes a student drained initially in unfamiliar surroundings, it can progress your path to personal growth and help you enhance your professional ladder. Adaptation can build certain qualities that are often called for by global employers. Those skills are:
• Autonomy: Students become responsible and accountable for the tasks they perform, making them self-dependent.
• Fortitude: One of the strongest abilities is the capacity for dealing with adverse conditions and sustaining through it. Building mental strength enables students to thrive in the highly competitive job market.
• Diversified Communication Skills: By interacting with students from diverse cultural backgrounds, students feel comfortable and learn to share their ideas and opinions effectively with others.
• Broadens Your Horizon Globally: International students who study in various countries can gain knowledge about varied cultures, languages, cuisines, beliefs, and thought processes at a larger scale.
• Self-Assurance: When international students undertake and complete tasks successfully without depending on someone, that makes them feel valued and more poised.
Conclusion
Cultural shock is an unavoidable burst of emotion that every student who studies abroad surely experiences. But through persistent adjustments, trials and changes in outlook can certainly bring dramatic changes in your personal and professional upliftment. Many study abroad consultancies in Ahmedabad not only hold your hand until your visa gets approved, but also offer post-landing services. Contact one today, and make your study abroad dream a reality. Bear in mind, cultural shock is short-term, adaptation welcomes long-term profits.
