Studying for your university degree away from home

Going to university represents the start of a new life stage which involves the arrival of more responsibilities and the need to make important choices about a nearing future. It marks the transition from adolescence to adulthood or the first steps towards this transition.

This is why it’s important to take your time when choosing the best path for you according to your disposition, abilities and what you want to do, and this may lead to a decision to study away from home.

Sometimes a student makes the decision to move away from home to discover and learn from situations when far away from their loved ones and out of their comfort zone. Other times they want to move because the subject they want to study isn’t offered by a university close to home or they want to study in another language and this involves going to another country and leaving their friends and family circle.

In any event, it’s a valid and attractive option which we invite you to choose as it comes with many benefits which we will now list.

What are the benefits of studying away from your home town?

Moving to another city involves leaving your comfort zone, which might cause you to think twice about making the move. But, as we’ve said before, we’re going to list a series of benefits of moving which will make the decision to study away from home easier.

Benefits of studying away from your home town

• Managing your time efficiently:
  You will learn to work under pressure and be more productive. Being away from your home routine will make you a more independent person who thinks more strategically and you will learn to work in a team, skills which will serve you well in life in general and at university in particular.
• Paradigm shift:
  You are coming from one type of education and, on leaving these concepts behind, you will encounter many others and your understanding will change, your mind will be broadened and you will begin to acquire a new long-term perspective.
• Broaden your career horizons:
  Your CV is your calling card for the world of work and although it’s very important to be able to say you have experience in your sector, it’s also important to talk about your personal growth. Having decided to leave home to study reflects your greater maturity and this will open more opportunities to you.
• Financial management:
  It’s possible that, even though you receive financial help from your family and may not have to worry about certain obligations, you will still have to take care of others such as maintaining your accommodation, managing payments and the other large and small responsibilities that come with independence. Many people who choose to go to university outside their home town know they will have to get a part-time job to be able to afford their studies and accommodation. And although it may seem that you will end up without any free time, in the end it’s only for a while and will contribute to your personal growth and prepare you for life.
• Strengthen family ties:
  Being far away from your family allows you to see everything from another point of view and gives you the chance to reflect on everything the people you love the most do for you and so makes you value them even more.
• Networking:
  Studying away from your home town gives you the chance to increase your network of contacts both in the academic and working world. You will form ties with people who could help you in the future by opening doors to possible jobs.
• Learning a new language:
  If you’ve had to move to a country where they speak another language, you will be forced to practise it. Practising the language will be more difficult if you have no prior knowledge of it, but after a while day-to-day conversations will be easy for you and you’ll get better as time goes on.We hope that all these advantages have convinced you to spend part of your university course in a university residence or at a university outside of your comfort zone, as this will help you to grow as a person and improve your job prospects as your time away from home will be a good thing to mention in your future covering letters.