Perhaps the most significant factor to a meaningful and positive experience abroad is the interaction between collective goodwill and individual responsibility for a positive attitude on the study abroad program. During the two weeks of my Culture, Public Health and Social Service experience in Greece, I regularly witnessed one member of our group be sensitive, supportive and encouraging of another.

We all have moments of fatigue, being discouraged or feeling overwhelmed or that our expectations were not met. However, cultivating a group dynamic that sincerely acknowledges such a state, and encourages the reorientation back towards this being a singular, un-repeatable experience in a unique moment and place allows us all to stay focused in our present. In turn, we are more able to make observations, ask questions, consider context and learn. I am extremely grateful and proud of the group I was with for exercising just such an effort.

Even more wonderfully, we also had an unspoken action of rotating among ourselves for the most-attentive to any given guide or discussion. This accomplished several things:

1. All individuals were involved at some point.
2. Each person had an opportunity to observe and quietly listen, or even mentally check out when fatigued.
3. Our hosts and guides engaged our whole group, developing the experience in breadth and depth along the way.

This also means that everyone had a unique experience, while everyone contributed to developing that experience for the group. Truthfully, I cannot think of a more optimal manner of group learning in a foreign country. I am eternally grateful to my group, professor and our tour guide for fostering such a positive, flowing dynamic.

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: Culture, Public Health and Social Service: Greece