A TIME ABROAD

You have probably felt the urge to do something different. To chart your own path. Life isn’t only about what you see and do in your own country, hometown or school, or even with your friends. What is beyond? You need to challenge yourself, to take a chance. For a school year (or even for a few weeks) you can dare to be different!

What makes an exchange student different? When someone leaves the familiar behind and plunges into the unknown, he or she is showing a commitment to understanding other people, to learning about the world in a way that textbooks and school assignments never reveal. Time spent abroad is a time that will redefine your world.

You’ll discover that every moment, every conversation and experience, challenge the way you look at the world. You’ll see differences as well as similarities in people and their actions, in their beliefs and values. You’ll experience the intricately structured social code of the Koren, or the egalitarian beliefs of the Scandinavians considered the most socially progressive Europeans. Suddenly you’ll realize what it means to belong to a certain country and culture. You’ll learn about yourself as you learn about others.

Becoming an exchange student gives you more than knowledge about another country and its language and culture. A year abroad teaches you about building friendships, taking responsibility for yourself, respecting differences and tolerating the beliefs of others.

Exchange students develop leadership skills, self-confidence and a greater understanding of the complexities of the world around them. This is why the best universities, as well as corporations and professionals, look favorably on students who have spent some time abroad. They know that former international exchange students bring a higher level of maturity and a global frame of reference to their university studies and activities.

If you become an exchange student abroad, you will experience life in another culture, and make close friends in your host country. You’ll also find that the school systems are among the best in the world and that the teenagers are much the same as they are at home. They work hard at their studies, play sports, love parties and cinema, and pursue hobbies just like you. A few will become your friends for life. LMEBS runs a summer short stay abroad exchange program in South Korea and the USA where only few students will get the opportunity the explore the world through the program.