Study Abroad with Ohio Dominican
Study Abroad Returning Students
Welcome Back World Traveler!
Please use the following information as a guide to help you transition into your life back at ODU. If you have any concerns, please email studyabroad@ohiodominican.edu.
Study Abroad Evaluation Form
After you have returned from your study abroad program you should complete the Student Evaluation Form. This evaluation will help our office advise students, and future students select the appropriate program of their choice. This is also an opportunity for you to share your thoughts and possibly provide us with recommendations to better serve our students.
Grades and Transcripts
Make sure you have requested an official transcript from your study abroad institution to be sent directly to the Registrar’s Office at ODU. The Registrar’s Office will then evaluate your transcript and post your transfer credit on your ODU transcript. Grades will appear on your ODU transcript and will be calculated into your cumulative grade point average. The Business Office will send you a bill for this credit when we receive your transcript.
ODU Housing
For information regarding housing arrangments upon your return to campus, see the Residence Life Office prior to your departure from campus.
Re-Entry Shock
Just as living abroad requires you to make some adjustements, so does coming home. For some students, this may be the most difficult phase of all. By this time you have new knowledge and attitudes and you may have changed intellectually and personally. You may find difficult to find people who understand your new perspective. However, try to find students who have studied abroad, or try to meet new international students.
The following is a list that may help you re-adjust your life after study abroad:
Find some ways to keep the “international” aspect in your life:
- Volunteer to assist the International Office in study abroad orientations for students going to the country you studied in.
- Get to know the international students on campus.
- Consider adding a minor in international business.
- Read online newspapers from your host country.
- Consider how you can use your international experience in your academics or future career.
- Start planning how you might go abroad again, either through personal travel, work/volunteer, or internship
If you are experiencing any emotional stress or are having a difficult time readjusting, please contact Counseling Services at (614) 251-4589.
“Studying Abroad was a life altering experience, that has forever changed my life.”
Lindsay Blank , Mexico 2003
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“Studying abroad made my self-confidence sky- rocket. Other than my first semester at college, I had never lived away from home before. All of a sudden I was living in another country, on another continent, across an ocean from my family and everything I had ever known. I grew up a lot, became much more independent, and I now realize I can do anything I set my mind to. It made me realize what responsibility really means. I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world!”
Marci McAndrews, Australia 2004
“When you get back, no matter how much you want to, don’t talk about your experiences abroad ALL the time. People want to hear stories, but not every minute of every day they are with you. Realize that they are just simply not going to understand some things that you do now. Don’t get upset when they seem naive or ignorant of other cultures, you probably were before you left too. Email friends in the other country, set up “phone dates” when you can, look at your pictures often, but don’t live in the past. Yes, they were great times; but your friends here are happy you are back and want to have fun with you now too! Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”
Marci McAndrews, Australia 2004
“Studying Abroad gives you the chance to live in a different environment, and get to know different people. Vacationing in a different country won’t do that."
Brett Michel , Australia 2004
“When I got back, I just tried to throw myself back into the swing of things, and keep in touch with the friends I’d made abroad. You just have to be aware that the world kept moving while you were abroad. Things might be different, but you can readjust. Take advantage to talk to other people who know what you’re going through.”
Brett Michel , Australia 2004
