Through the lens of change

Photo by: Nick Conley

Young adults continue to set trends on a global scale. With advances in technology, people are able to connect with other countries from the comfort of their own homes more than ever before. The effects of physically traveling to those countries, however, have become increasingly beneficial for young globetrotters who are actively reaping the benefits.

“A new study found a 40 percent rise in youth travel spending between 2007 and 2012,”

Mark Johanson’s article from International Business Times “Global Youth Traveling Abroad More Than Ever Before, But Not For Leisure” stated, “Reuters Travel brands take note: The oft-overlooked youth segment has emerged over the past five years as the fastest-growing group for international travel, representing roughly 20 percent of the total market in 2012, according to a new report from the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation.”

The article goes on to explain that David Chapman, director general of the World Youth Student and Educational Travel Confederation, said the research shows that the nature of youth travel has “changed enormously” over the past decade.

“An increasingly diverse demographic of young globetrotters put far more emphasis on gaining cultural, educational and work experiences abroad than they do on simply traveling for leisure,” Chapman said in an interview with Johanson.

The U.N. World Tourism Organization, as mentioned in Johanson’s article, defined the youth segment as travelers between the ages of 18 and 35.

Young people are traveling further, staying away for longer, keeping in touch more and integrating with overseas communities on a scale not seen before.

Oklahoma Christian University offers many opportunities for students to study abroad. These programs allow for students and their adult sponsors to experience an enrichment of academics within the borders of other countries and cultures.

“College students and young adults are in such a wonderful, pivotal season of their life, making this stage the best time to experience the diversity of this world,” Amy Beauchamp, assistant professor of art and design, said. “When you travel, you experience other cultures, other people, ways of thinking, and suddenly, the categories we often put things into, ‘right’ or ‘wrong,’ tend to blur into more of a beautiful shade of ‘different.’”

Having traveled abroad multiple times before sponsoring a study abroad trip, Beauchamp offered the students different perspectives on situations they encountered throughout their trip abroad.

“As the sponsor for the European fall semester abroad, I learned more about myself than ever,” Beauchamp said. “Because my role was in a different capacity, the guy in charge, it came with its challenges.”

Youth often stay longer than other tourists, according to Johanson’s article. This creates a stronger connection to the country or countries they visit and the people they meet there.

“Being away from home for three months is tough,” Beauchamp said. “Not everyone responds as favorably or mercifully to differences found in other cultures. People learn things at different times and reflect back on experiences in different ways. I’m thankful that through its ups and downs those students have come to find the joy in what they experienced, struggled through and appreciate it even more after the fact.”

Being within another culture automatically creates a learning environment unlike any other and requires individuals to use alternate forms of communication to form an understanding between what they know and what is being presented to them.

“Going abroad and learning about another culture is way better than learning about it in a classroom,” junior Sarah Deboard said. “Learning about China in a lecture is boring in my opinion, but learning about China in China is unbelievable.”

Experiencing other cultures within their origin creates a multidimensional understanding of the things that come from that culture and seep into the everyday lives of individuals when they return to their own country.

“Travel, at its heart, is the renewal of your sense of wonder,” junior Evan Loomis said. “Traveling abroad offers the unique opportunity to experience the world in a vastly different way than you are accustomed to here in the United States. It gives you the chance to see things from a completely different perspective and embark on a different adventure every day.”

Spending time abroad, in any capacity, opens the eyes of young people and allows them to open up to differences in cultures.

“Study abroad is really seeing life through the lens of change,” Loomis said.

The opportunities given to young adults, such as through Oklahoma Christian’s study abroad programs, encourages a wide array of possibilities for the student’s future through a larger lens of application of their skills and interests.

“Study abroad can also be a renewal of your sense of adventure,” Loomis said. “Spending time abroad stretches you out a little, or a lot, in every way possible. It is a constant challenge of your abilities, whether that is how you spend your time and money, how you observe and interact with your surroundings, or how you make meaning of the life we all share on this planet.”

Other cultures cultivate broader applications and theories that help mold young minds, producing more possibilities for further success in unification of cultures.

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