13 December 2022

What are the Cultural Benefits of Being a Student at an International University?

From the past to the present, universities have had a structure that not only provides academic development to their students but also develops them socially and allows them to discover themselves. Especially in an international university where you study with students from different countries of the world, you can develop yourself in many ways and create your own unique value system. In this article, we have examined the cultural contributions of being a student at an international university. Have a good read.

From the past to the present, universities have had a structure that not only provides academic development to their students, but also develops them socially and allows them to discover themselves. Especially in an international university where you study with students from different countries around the world, you can develop yourself in many ways and create your own unique value system. In this article, we have examined the cultural contributions of being a student at an international university. Good reading.

  • Gain Knowledge about World Cultures

  • Improves Your Perspective

  • Contributes to Accepting People as They Are

  • Improves Your Foreign Language Skills

  • You Gain Confidence and Experience

  • You Can Easily Exchange Culturally

  • Contributes to Cultural Cohesion.

Gain Knowledge About World Cultures

International University means the coexistence of different cultures from different parts of the world. Getting to know these cultures and interacting with them adds richer values than one can imagine. A person who meets new cultures can adapt to changes more easily and have flexible thoughts. He/she can see that events do not consist of a single dimension and realize that diversity is a necessity of life.

When you have a friend of a different nationality, you can learn more about their country and its culture than you could ever get from other sources. You can learn about the cuisine, customs, traditions, music, literature and much more.

Improves Your Perspective

University is one of the first social environments you enter as an adult. You make friends and expand your social circle. You want to make friends with whom you can share, have fun and have a good time. At an international university, you can make these friendships with students from different countries. Seeing your cultural similarities and differences improves your social skills. Seeing other perspectives enriches your world of thought. You learn to empathize and look at a problem from different perspectives.

Contributes to Accepting People as They Are

East, west, north or south... People are human and valuable in every geography. It does not matter what their skin color, language or beliefs are. What is important is that that person is also an individual and this is too valuable to be forgotten.

Born and raised in a different environment from you and having different opinions is not something to be feared or shunned. On the contrary, this is the richness of being human. We are all different - even from the same culture. The way we look at things, our ability to carry out and complete a task, the way we express ourselves are often sharply different from each other. First of all, we must accept this fact. Only then can we find the meaning of being human.

When we embrace differences, we realize that we are similar to each other in no small measure. We realize that it is not the color of our skin that makes us human, but our feelings and thoughts. Experiencing these in college, in early adulthood, will make the rest of our lives much easier.

Improves Your Foreign Language Skills

The basic element of communication is language. The better you master the language, the better you can express yourself. And the more languages you know, the more people you can communicate with. This is important because man is a social being. He has to express himself in the best way possible. And it is a fact that knowing a foreign language has always been valuable. Both in daily life and in the academic field, a multilingual person is always one step ahead. You can improve your existing foreign language skills or learn new languages with friends from different countries.

You Can Easily Exchange Culturally

It is as important to promote your own culture as it is to learn about other cultures. This gives you the opportunity to evaluate your culture. You can look at your values as an outsider. Perhaps there are aspects of your traditions that you practice without hesitation that are uncomfortable and inappropriate. By seeing these, even if you cannot make a social adjustment, you can at least change your attitude and preference towards that cultural concept. Remember, you are an individual before you are part of society. While culture can vary even within the same society, you do not have to follow social habits that seem wrong to you.

Gain Confidence and Experience

Every person you meet, every experience you gain, prepares you for life. Because people learn by living and try to avoid repeating their mistakes as much as they can, and try to be the best version of themselves they can be. The experiences you gain contribute to your ability to overcome new obstacles and become more resilient against difficulties. As your ability to express yourself improves, your self-confidence begins to grow. Undoubtedly, self-confidence is necessary in almost every aspect of life, and you can only gain it by trying to stand on your own two feet and getting to know new people. One way to develop experience and self-confidence at an international university is to get involved in student clubs.

If you want to have more detailed information on this subject, you can check our articleWhat are the Benefits of a Student Club? Why Should I Join a Student Club?" You can review our article.

Contributes to Cultural Cohesion

At the end of the day, we are alone with ourselves. We think about what feels right or wrong to us. What do I want to do in this life, what kind of person do I want to be? Does my culture match the "me I want to be"? Or are there skills I need to acquire for that? These questions are constantly running through your mind, especially if you are in your early 20s. You are in a search without knowing exactly what you are looking for. In fact, what you are looking for is your self, your culture that will make you who you are. As you meet new cultures and people from these cultures, you start to add new characteristics to yourself, you start to build your self. Even experiences and acquaintances that you may consider as bad are constructive. Although these searches diminish over time, they continue throughout the life of every conscious person, and in fact you create your culture more than the society you live in. And as a result, it is up to you to be in a cultural environment that is open to development.


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