Studying away from home: It is a decision that more and more young people are making as an option for post-secondary education. Many teenagers, or those in their early 20s, choose to attend university in their hometown due to either a lack of credentials to go anywhere else, a lack of money, a lack of desire to go anywhere else, or simply because the university near home is a credible school and/or offers what that person needs.
However, is staying at home really the proper choice? While each option has its pros and cons, it seems like the pros of studying away from home far outweigh those of staying home.
“I think just knowing how far away from home I am has forced me to become a lot more independent,” said Cassia Armstrong, a student from White Rock studying at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. “And being away from home means entirely new people, so I’ve gotten to make entirely new friends.”
Scott Nordlund, another westerner who studied at Dalhousie in Nova Scotia and now Carlton in Ottawa echoed Armstrong’s statement.
“The biggest thing for me would be meeting new friends outside your normal friend group and growing up quick,” said Nordlund. “If you stay within your circle of friends from high school, you’re essentially just doing another four years of high school socially. I really noticed it because I was on the football team and joined a fraternity and all that so I met a wide variety of people.”
Hailee Renkers, a student who did one year at Wagner in New York before coming back home to study at UBC, has experienced the benefits and hardships of both.
“A couple issues with going away is you have to make a big effort to keep in touch with your previous friends or else they forget about you once you come back home. Also, it’s tough on certain people and their families,” she said.
While life experience, new friends and independence are all valuable things to gain, there are certainly some benefits to studying at home, especially if there is a good university close by.
“You can see your family and cut down on costs, because you aren’t travelling so far,” said Renkers. “You also can keep in touch better with your previous friends and see them more often. The only thing is, you aren’t exactly seeing what the world has to offer.”
With studying away from home being a big risk, it is not peculiar for young people to stay at home to study. However, as the old saying goes, the higher the risk, the higher the reward.
Tristan Johnston
Though I only did it for six months, I did some study abroad in Europe, and even if it was still within Canada, it’s still a choice I would make. More independence, exposure to new places, and even if it’s a place like Nova Scotia, it will be very different from Vancouver.
Lauren Rudy
I enjoyed your article. I found the opinions of the students informative, especially because you interviewed people who went to a variety of different places. I think your title is a question a students wonder at least once in their academic career, even if it is just curiosity.
Marissa Birnie
I’d love to do a study abroad eventually. Living on campus was never an option for me. It’s interesting though, I have some American friends and it’s pretty much expected that they’ll go out-of-state for University, but in my city most people stay close to home.
Joseph Keller
Great article. I think studying away from home is something everyone should consider and try to do in some form.
I’m hoping to spend next year studying in the UK so its nice to read about other people who have done it.