Why participate in international exchanges?

— filed under: Parents, General

People with disabilities have repeatedly shared how international exchange has provided increased confidence, cultural skills, employment opportunities, and more. Read quotes gathered from past focus groups with exchange alumni with disabilities.

What's the Purpose in Going Abroad to Study, Intern, Volunteer or Teach?

"Having international experiences on my resume was definitely an asset in my job search. The work I'm doing now is for an organization with offices all over the world, so they do look for people who have that international experience."
"I put my international exchange experience on my resume and it did spark questions in my job interview. I'm now a camp program director and a quarter of my staff are international, so I'm sure that my international experience really helped me to get the job."
Read the Study Abroad & Career Development Student Guide (online PDF) to learn how to talk about your overseas experiences in job interviews and more.

"I put my Mexico and Russia exchange experiences on my resume and it worked - I got a job at an independent living center and I actually work with Deaf people from different countries who are living in the US."
"The international experience helped me to change my job. Now I'm working for international NGOs."
"In my job, we're serving more and more Japanese people with disabilities. My international exchange experience helped me to be more sensitive to other cultures."
"My year of study in England really put disability rights law and policy issues into a global framework. Now I envision a career that brings domestic and international law together. I see them as inseparable now."
"I was fascinated to learn about how the government in Germany addresses disability issues, and to compare that to what we do here in the US. That comparison made me interested in policy. Now I'm working with a policy-making organization that advises our state government on disability issues."

For further information on how study abroad specifically impacted students with disabilities, read this online PDF article "Making an Impact: The benefits of studying abroad" published by the NCDE in the Review of Disability Studies: An international journal, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2006. To download a Word version, go to: http://www.rds.hawaii.edu/downloads/.