Coming "Home"

Welcome back!  Coming home can be an interesting challenge, and there’s probably a lot that you are feeling:  excitement to see friends and family that you’ve missed, sadness for having to leave your host country and friends behind, and an itch to travel.  We hope that what you’ll find in this section can help you work through some of these issues and start to frame your study abroad experience in a meaningful way.

Coming “home” can be as challenging as traveling and adjusting to a new country/culture. There is a lot of research and resources published about the Reverse Culture-Shock and other re-entry challenges. Craig Storti in his book “The Art of Coming Home” describes 4 stages of re-entry:

 

Leave-Taking and Departure 

- Honeymoon (in your home culture) 

Reverse Culture-Shock 

(Re)Adjustment 

Other researchers (ex. Gullahorn) describe the re-entry experience as a roller coaster.  

While reentry experience can feel unexpectedly intense and emotional, know that this is very normal and there are resources to help you process this part of your global experience. 

 

Reentry Information (Gilman Scholarship Program)