Studying abroad is one of the best gifts you can give yourself

The desperate pleas amplified by social media of black and brown students unable to leave Ukraine as some of the worst fighting Europe has seen since World War II broke out was gut wrenching. The increasing urgency with which arrivals to Ukraine and the surrounding region needed to return home and the sometimes slow reactions from their home governments gave international travellers pause for thought.

The very idea of being trapped in a foreign country as a war literally rages around you is the stuff of nightmares, but as someone who has studied in several countries and travelled across dozens more, the risks will never outweigh the rewards.

Traditional study routes have always been a rite of passage for Jamaicans and other people from the global South who wanted to enhance their career prospects and broaden their minds. The paths were usually pretty linear, with deep connections to former colonies and economic hubs like the United States, Canada, and the UK. With many students being priced out of those markets and the cost of domestic education eye-wateringly high, non-traditional routes have become more popular. Even places now like Cuba, Panama, and The Cayman islands have seen competition for places, and, therefore, the costs, rocket.

In the 1970s, my own mother was one of thousands who took the train across Eastern Europe to Moscow to study for a period of time. My path was not quite as Cold War-esque, but when my opportunity came, I opted to do a portion of my degree at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

TEETHING ISSUES

I still remember standing at the platform at Schiphol airport with very loose instructions on how to take the near three-hour journey to the place that would be my home for a several months. Arriving to shared accommodation, forgetting that while most Dutch people spoke wonderful English, the administrative system of the country was officially Dutch and apparently if you knew some German that would be useful., I knew neither.

Obviously, there were some teething issues. Even the process of securing my permit to stay in the country to study at that time was overly bureaucratic. Finding my way around a city I had never set foot in until I’d committed to studying there and realising that these folks really do get everywhere by bike made me rethink my decision a few times. With the exception of a few wobbles where I was feeling sorry for myself, this was - hands down - one of the best things I ever did.

For a girl from Portland, sharing a space with fellow students from Iceland, Canada, the US, Scotland, Germany, Sweden, and a dozen other places in between was a real eye-opener. While we mostly focused on the studying, I realised that there were so many opportunities for a different kind of education. I was learning things that you would never find in any books, forging relationships which, in a few cases, would last decades later. I also felt a great privilege in representing my island home and showing a little bit of where I was from and a little bit of my culture.

FIRST GENUINE EXPERIENCE

Not to put a finer point on it, for many of these lovely people, I was their first genuine experience of forging a close bond with a black person. I’d like to think that many of those folks with whom I shared space in the Netherlands walked away richer from the experience as I did and also walked away with a greater understanding of seasoning your food correctly. But that’s another story for another day.

There will always be challenges leaving the comfort of home to branch out whether it be for a few months, a few years, or a more permanent move, but if the opportunity arises, please don’t let the images that we’ve been bombarded with on our screens instil fear in branching out.

As a journalist, I’ve been in the middle of riots in Tunisia, a government crackdown in Jordan, been kettled by the British police in London at the student demos, and it all helped to form the rich tapestry of my personal academic and professional experience. In choosing to study abroad, you are getting an opportunity to spread your wings and perhaps gain a new cultural perspective, make some new friends or even brush up on your language talents to boot.

Whatever your reasons for wanting to see a little bit more of this world, go do it, and you’ll be the richer for it. Please don’t let some of the scenes we’ve recently witnessed put you off. As my mom always says, if it all goes belly up, you’ll have one heck of a dinner party story to tell.

Amina Taylor is a journalist and broadcaster. She is the former editor of Pride magazine and works as producer, presenter, and correspondent with Press TV in London.