Jodi Tam ‘18
Contributing Writer
Jodi Tam is a senior majoring in Biology (track 4) and minoring in exercise and sports studies.
What made you to decide to study abroad? Studying abroad wasn’t always on my radar until a family member urged me to go out and explore other cultures while being a student, because it could potentially be a life changing experience, as it was for her. After that, I started looking up travel destinations and I was hooked on a few places after some research.
What skills did you develop? After meeting so many new people from different states, countries and cultures during my first week abroad, I’ve definitely learned how to be more outgoing, initiate conversation, navigation and learning to ask for help when needed.
In what ways did the experience contribute to your larger career and/or academic goals? How have your goals shifted? My study abroad experience contributed to my career goals by teaching me to speak up more, have better communication skills between myself and others and also take into account cultural differences when speaking about experiences. My career goal is to be a nurse practitioner, and effective communication skills are absolutely essential when speaking to patients. While abroad, my career goals haven’t changed. Rather, my experience while in Hong Kong strengthened my desire to be able to help others in the healthcare field.
Where do you see yourself headed now that you didn’t before? I think I see myself taking some time off after I graduate rather than going straight into graduate school. Before, I wanted to start the NP program school right after, but now I want to work a little as a medical assistant or medical scribe and see firsthand what it is like in the field before heading back to more exams and essays.
What challenges did you face? A challenge I faced while abroad was learning how to adapt to a new school system of exams. Most biology classes I’ve taken at Smith gave exams that had to be answered in short answer or essay format rather than the standard multiple choice exams I was administered while abroad. I also wasn’t used to taking a test in a room with 200 other students rifling through their papers while several graduate students prowled the aisles waiting to catch a cheater or answer questions. Another challenge was the jetlag initially upon arriving in Hong Kong with 12 hours of difference between New York City and Hong Kong.
Is study abroad expensive? Study abroad can be pricey depending on location but also how much you want to go out and travel. Hong Kong’s conversion rate to the US Dollar made it very inexpensive for exploring the city in terms of transportation as well as food and drink. Extra traveling to Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Thailand was also very inexpensive in terms of flight tickets because of the countries’ close proximity to each other.
Why should others study abroad? While studying abroad isn’t an absolute must, I would highly encourage anyone to experience living in a new country by themselves, make new friends, rediscover themselves and go have fun! Learning about other cultures is very rewarding and definitely opened up my eyes to things in a new light.
