After studying at a university halfway around the world, Shawn Ray has a new outlook on education.
Ray, a recent OSU graduate with a B.S. in physics, went on a two-week abroad trip to Japan in May 2019.
The two weeks included visits to several cities around Japan and many company tours. Ray said he learned a significant amount about the work culture in Japan, including the cultural habits of employees and Japanese company values.
“People will usually work 10 to 12 hour days,” Ray said. “And there’s a really big culture of being the last one to leave.”
On top of this employee culture, Ray said some Japanese companies have a no-waste mission, which means they minimize their distribution radius, and strictly regulating supply to match demand, leading to the decrease of production costs.
The two-week trip was packed with information and experiences that Ray said he considered valuable.
But for Ray, two weeks was not long enough.
“There is so much history and culture in a different country that is easily glossed over by just being a tourist,” Ray said, “I almost felt more like a tourist than I did actually studying abroad.”
Ray said he encourages students who consider studying abroad to go for a semester, or at minimum, a month.
Bekah Bowman, a psychology major, spent a semester studying abroad at Keele University in the United Kingdom during the fall.
Bowman said that even a full semester felt as if it went by too quickly. She said it felt like it was the right amount of time to grow and change then come back to her friends and family in Oklahoma.
Bowman’s trip resulted in long-term opportunities for personal growth and cultural experiences, and she said she did her best to make the most out of her time abroad.
At Keele University, she took 12 credit hours. With Monday and Tuesday classes, Bowman had the rest of the week available to herself. Bowman said she spent most days with her friend group, which she quickly made upon arrival.
“We hung out every single day, and we had dinner together every night,” Bowman said.
Because Bowman had so much free time, she visited many of the surrounding European countries and historical locations. Bowman said the friends she made influenced her time there for the better, and it was an opportunity to feel more independent and confident in her daily life.
Bowman said if any student is considering studying abroad, even slightly, they should jump on the opportunity.
Both Ray and Bowman said OSU’s Study Abroad Office and its organization prepared and supported them.
“Go explore something,” Bowman said. “Because you will learn, and you will grow and it’s so incredible.”